Living in Asia, one thing I and many other people like me are acutely aware of is the possible re-emergence of bird flu. Bird flu, or avian flu, first occurred in Asia in 2003 and, within only a couple of years, more than 300 people died from it. Now, it's being reported Hong Kong discovered three more incidences of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus in poultry on Wednesday, and more than 17,000 birds have since been killed.
Along with culling birds that could possibly be infected, Hong Kong has also suspended any imports of live poultry for three weeks, and more inspections have been ordered at chicken farms.
In Thailand, where I live, we are currently bird flu-free. We last had a bird flu outbreak about three years ago and several people died. Nowadays, health officials monitor Thai chicken farms carefully, as any new cases would need to be dealt with quickly and chicken populations in affected areas culled. So far, Thailand's strategy has been successful, but for how long before another outbreak hits Thailand or close by in Malaysia, Cambodia or Laos? It often depends on the actual birds infected.
The last time Thailand had a bird flu outbreak, it was in Thailand's massive chicken industry, which badly damaged not only the poultry industry but also Thailand's tourist industry. So bad was it, some tourists were afraid to travel to Thailand as they had a mistaken belief contracting bird flu is easy. It's not. But tell that to several of my Thai friends who lost jobs with local tour companies when western tourists canceled their trips.
In fact, bird flu all over Asia has generally only been contracted by people who came directly into contact with infected poultry on a farm or raw in a restaurant, and not by people who ate cooked chicken at a local eatery. Besides, if chicken is cooked correctly, it's almost impossible to contract bird flu from it, so eating it isn't that much of a concern.
But, even in Thailand where people eat far more poultry per person than in western countries, people stopped eating chicken when bird flu struck, and restaurants like KFC and Chester's, the Thai chicken chain restaurant, suffered enormous financial losses.
As to whether Hong Kong's latest incidences of bird flu will spread throughout Asia, only time will tell. One thing adding to the concern though is, although one of the cases discovered yesterday was in a common chicken from a poultry farm, the other two were in wild birds -- a seagull that had died at a local school, and an oriental magpie robin.
Wild birds are far more difficult to monitor and to test so, at this time, there's no way of knowing if these were isolated cases, or the beginnings of something a lot more serious.
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