Although there are assurances that the current epidemic of avian flu sweeping the Midwest is of no risk to humans, the fact that it’s there at all — and that there’s little that can be done about it — is frightening.
It also could be costly to people’s wallets if flocks of egg producing hens are infected. In other states, millions of birds have had to be killed after birds in their flocks were diagnosed with the flu.
A strain of the highly contagious flu has found its way to Indiana, with a flock of 77 birds destroyed after one of the flock was diagnosed withthe incurable disease.
Farmers and owners of backyard chicken are being asked to take special precautions to keep their birds free of the disease, but it will likely only peter out after running its course.
The speed at which this flu has travelled and its dire consequences hint at the fear that many West Africans must be living with during the Ebola crisis.
Bird flu doesn’t kill or even make humans a little bit sick, but it spreads fast, just like ebola. And like ebola, it kills its victims.
Both reveal the limits of the modern world in dealing with such plagues. That’s the really scary part.
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