Forced to CHICKEN out

Another dismal, spine-chilling story on the front-page to jolt me out of my reverie in a sleepy morning class. I stared in horror at what I read. The article ruthlessly screamed out: Chief secretary R M Premkumar ordered eight lakh chickens within the taluka to be slaughtered in the next 48 hours! The article goes on to lament the fact bird flu has hit Maharashtra, which is what's making our dear Mr.Premkumar a.k.a self-proclaimed Yamadev revel in a dance of death by ordering the mass slaughter that he has. At the risk of diluting the seriousness of the issue, I must say: On a lighter note, it's weird how the govt officials made a funny fool of themselves. Just as Mr.Premkumar ordered that 2 lakh chickens should be slaughtered to combat the disease, State health secretary Dr Vijay Satbir Singh said the district administration had been instructed to close all slaughter houses in Nawapur and the surrounding areas to combat the disease! :) It happens only in India!

Well,well,well, let us dig in a lil more into the chicken-y facts.Bird flu is, no doubt a deadly viral epidemic caused by the H5N1 avian influenza virus.As reported here, these influenza viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, avian influenza is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them.

Let us see what warrants a mass-slaughter.It is true that, of the few avian influenza viruses that have crossed the species barrier to infect humans, H5N1 has caused the largest number of detected cases of severe disease and death in humans. It is also true that, in the current outbreaks in Asia and Europe, more than half of those infected with the virus have died. In fact, if H5N1 virus were to gain the capacity to spread easily from person to person, an influenza pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease) could begin. Accepted.HOWEVER, I now wish to draw a close parallel, replacing poultry with humans. The HIV virus that causes the incurable AIDS disease spreads only through infected-blood tranfusion and/or sexual contact. Bird flu spreads to humans only through close contact with infected animals and/or surfaces contaminated by their saliva/faeces. AIDS too, if left unchecked, could become a pandemic. Both these diseases are fatal. Both are currently incurable. AIDS has constantly been claiming thousands of lives, while this particular outbreak of bird flu has claimed ONE life so far. What then, justifies the meting out of mass-slaughter to as many as 2 lakh chickens, most of which might not even be infected yet? Why don't we slaughter AIDS_affected humans as well? Aren't they equally dangerous? What right do we, who weren't responsible for the creation of life, have, to take away lives? What was done to plague victims/smallpox victims when there were no vaccines for these diseases? Weren't they all just quarantined and kept at a safe distance to prevent the burgeoning of the epidemic into a pandemic? Why then, can't these chicken be quarantined too, if they are found to be affected?

There's so much hue and cry about euthanasia. Even when people want to die, we force them to hang on for dear life; even when chickens want to hang on for dear life, we force them to chicken out of life! Strange indeed are the murky ways of our perky world.