Wetland restoration could help contain bird flu

[Guest guest]

course if we got rid of cramped factory farms...nah..that'd be silly....

 

Wetland restoration could help contain bird flu

 

A recent report commissioned by the U.N. gives a unique reason to restore tens

of thousands of lost or degraded wetlands: It could help keep bird flu at bay.

Upon finding their regular flocking grounds drained for agriculture or

hydroelectricity, some wild birds alight on still-wet rice paddies and farm

ponds, where they can come into contact with domesticated chickens, ducks, and

geese. This intermingling of fowl helps spread the H5N1 avian influenza virus,

which has been found in 45 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and

Africa. If the wild birds had access to their preferred habitat, the risk of

such spreading would be lessened. A recent convention on biological diversity

concluded that the flu could potentially affect over 80 percent of all known

bird species. Since 2003, 108 people have died after contracting H5N1 from

poultry, and scientists fear the virus could mutate to become transmittable

between humans.

 

 

straight to the source: Reuters, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, 11 Apr 2006

 

You can bomb the world to pieces

You can't bomb it into peace