Avian threat: An interational issue with local concern

The majority of Nova Scotians are so busy with daily life that we are all guilty of finding it next to impossible to look outside our personal struggles despite the importance of doing just in the wake of a changing political landscape.

Nova Scotians are no strangers to hardship but have proven themselves compassionate and adaptable when the need arises. Think of the countless hours devoted to search and rescue efforts of the Swiss Air flight 111, the community responses to local fires and natural disasters like Hurricane Juan, and the commitment to rejuvenating traditional markets as the economy becomes global. While we are far from perfect, we deal with local issues much better than global ones.

Despite the eighty-four commercial chicken farms, and many backyard operations in the province, most have no idea that the avian flu is a potential threat here, nor do many understand what it is.

The avian flu is a virus that has caused over 240 million chickens to be culled worldwide. The H5N1 strain of the virus is the most deadly and can be transferred to humans through direct contact with an infected bird. This has led to 231 deaths out of the 365 human cases reported to the World Health Organization as of February 21^st, 2008. In 2008 alone there has been 16 new cases causing 14 deaths. The majority of cases occur in South East Asia, but the avian flu is also present in Europe and Africa.

Although the main concentration of the avian flu is overseas, another strain of the virus called H7N3 has been found in the Simon Fraser Valley of British Columbia in 2004, and as recently has fall 2007 in Saskatchewan. As one Acadia University international student from Taiwan points out, “Like SARS, the avian flu is not only happen[ing] in Asia.”

The avian flu is not considered a human friendly virus, but as with all viruses there is a possibility for further mutation. This is why it is taken seriously in the political arena and included in stringent plans like the Nova Scotia Pandemic Influenza Plan and North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) also has strict protocols in place for dealing with the avian flu in the commercial farming sector.

The CFIA have also been providing information on the avian flu to small backyard farmers across the country, including one session recently in Truro. The information about the virus is getting to farmers and public officials but it is not disseminating to the general public.

Even though the general Nova Scotian population is seemingly unaware of the threat, the preparedness of various government levels and commercial farmers and the quick and effective CFIA response to the outbreak in Saskatchewan means there is no cause for panic. As one commercial chicken farmer in Nova Scotia notes, “We are concerned about the A[vian] I[nfluenza], but I’m pretty comfortable that if we keep doing the same thing that we’re doing on the farm here, we should be pretty safe. There’s nothing guaranteed.”

The same farmer went on to comment about the actual chance of the avian flu coming to Nova Scotia, stating the odds are, “50/50 I’m guessing. There’s a risk. Like a lot of people say it will come, but when is the hard thing to say.”

Part of the reason for the concern is that Nova Scotia is a hot spot for migratory birds some of which track migration paths and overlap with flyways from around the world. We often sit back to admire the birds without thinking of how they connect us to places as far away as Indonesia. This is just one of the many ways that Nova Scotia is connected to the international community, and why we should all be informed on the realities of the avian flu.

It is time for Nova Scotians to look past our daily struggles and see our connections to communities and issues around the world. We must reinvigorate our compassion, but apply it in more local understanding of the major international issues. There is no doubt that Nova Scotians will be able to adapt to the threat, if they are given the opportunity to understand how it may affect them.

Submitted to The Chronicle Herald on April 4th, 2008.