ok i can give the pm the benefit of the doubt - in that they didn't know what they were up against and perhaps thought genuinly that it was another virus.

two points -

you can't catch bird flu from eating cooked chicken. SO ITS SAFE TO EAT CHICKEN AND EXPORT IT.

between 20million - 50 million people died last time bird flu mutated with human flu in 1918. SO IT'S NOT SAFE TO LET A BIRD POO ON YOU OR DROOL ON YOU.

some would say, what is all the fuss about?

fatty (not watching the skys)

fat old farang~

The fuss, as you say, is that if a human with normal flu contracts the "chicken flu" and they (the two flu strains) swap genes so that the chicken flu becomes transferrable between humans (sneezes, infected services, etc etc) it will quit being soley the chicken's nightmare and become ours.

Note, it is being reported present in pigs. Any concern? Should be. Pigs and humans have transferrable contagions as well, so if a pig had a virus that was transferrable to humans and that virus swapped some genes with the "chicken flu" we could end up with exactly the same result.

Yes, well cooked chicken is reportedly not a problem. Of course once you bite into the chicken, it's too late to be sending it back to the kitchen to finish.

Jeepz

between 20million - 50 million people died last time bird flu mutated with human flu in 1918. SO IT'S NOT SAFE TO LET A BIRD POO ON YOU OR DROOL ON YOU.

The scientists are still arguing about what type of virus caused the Spanish flu. They have so far only established that the virus bears some resemblance to the avian viruses, but it is not a scientific fact.

http://www.hon.ch/News/HSN/517331.html

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/facts.htm

Of course a lot of people will pack it in if the virus mutates with a human flu virus and spreads, but it hasn't yet, and researchers are fairly certain death tolls won't reach the same figures as the Spanish flu.

As far as I know, it still hasn't been confirmed that the virus has spread to pigs either.

jeepz

my post was supposed to be satirical