Question: Are you still eating poultry? Why or Why not.
In today's Seattle PI there's an AP article about Austrian cats catching the H5N1 avian flu. According to the article, the three cats confirmed to be infected withH5N1 were housed in the same shelter as chickens that also had H5N1. A cat in Germany died from the same strain of avian flu, possibly from eating an infected bird.
A comprehensive article on H5N1 appeared in the October 2005 National Geographic magazine. Here's a teaser on the article, from National Geographic Online. If you're interesting in reading more about avian flu, I highly recommend this article.
After reading the NG article back in October, I was very leery of eating any chicken. I've started eating it more, and fixing chicken for my family, but I wonder if that's a good idea. I've been fixing more turkey, but I wonder if turkeys are just as suceptable to the avian flu as chicken are. If you have any information to share, please post a comment.
posted by lewlew @ 10:11 PM
3 Comments:
Well, I'll continue to eat chicken for the time being, mostly because of the lack of scientific evidence that this virus is anything to be alarmed about.
For one, scientists have been aware of the virus' exitence for some 50+ years, and yet only NOW are people trying to stir up fear of it. For another, a very small number of people have been infected by it. Thousands upon thousands of people die from malaria every year (and have for decades, since the shunning - not outright banning - of DDT).
As for me, I suspect those behind the fearmongering have motives completely unrelated to health or risk. And I refuse to be controlled by them through fear.
I'm not worried about H5N1, I feel it's just being used to scare people. I have a flock of birds myself, and I'm more worried about their health in the event of an outbreak than I am my own. That said, chicken you buy in the store is not very good. Some percentage of the weight is fecal soup! I would recommend raising your own fryer chicks in the back yard, or buy from a local pastured chicken raiser, the meat is better tasting and much healthier for you.
The book Chicken Tractor would get you well on your way to raising your own meat birds.
Hi Julian! Chicken Tractor is a great book. I checked it out of the library during the Fall. My dream for my suburban gulch is to have a greenhouse/chicken coop.
You and Erin make good points. I am still leary of eating chicken, though, especially after reading your point about the fecal soup. EEEWWW!
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