Bird Flu On The Move

The deadly strain of avian flu is making its way across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. More European Union countries have been hit: Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. Over the weekend, the strain of flu was discovered in domesticated turkeys in France and three cats in Austria, reported Lynne K. Varner of Seattle Times.

According to the World Health Organization, 173 people have been infected, 93 have died. The people who've gotten the bird flu came into contact with infected birds, either during slaughtering, plucking feathers, butchering or preparing the animals for cooking. WHO called bird flu a greater global challenge than any previous infectious disease, costing global agriculture more than $10 billion and affecting the livelihoods of 300 million farmers.

Every time a human catches the avian flu, it offers the virus another opportunity to mutate into a rapidly spreading and deadly human form. Poland reported Monday March 6th, 2006 its first outbreak of the disease in two wild swans that had died of the lethal strain.

A 30-year-old woman who died this week was Egypt's first human victim of bird flu, state television has said.

The arrival of bird flu in Egypt last month caused panic *reported by BBC

Reports said the woman, who maintained a domestic bird farm despite a ban on the practice, died of a fever at Cairo's main hospital on Friday.

Samples have been sent to the UK for further tests.

Egypt last month ordered the slaughter of all poultry kept in homes, as part of efforts to stop the spread of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

The H5N1 strain has killed at least 90 people since early 2003, mostly in South-East Asia.

The virus can infect humans in close contact with birds. There is still no evidence that it can be passed from human to human.

Alonzo Plough, former director of public health for Seattle and King County told the Seattle Times reporter Warren King that the threat of a flu pandemic often kept him awake at night.

"I think pandemic flu is the most serious, global, large-scale threat facing us..." Plough said.

What Can We Do?

A new breakthrough in technology has created a patent pending new method of keeping birds away from unwanted areas. GBS, Inc, located near Seattle, WA, is currently marketing a product that has been shown to keep birds from being pests in the wrong location by hazing a dry haze into the air. The haze causes the birds leave, but doesn't harm them or anyone else. Because the haze comes from naturally grown grapes, it has been approved by the FDA for use around foods and packing facilities to reduce bird traffic by as much as 96%.

"Actually, we've been able to do better than 96%, because we've already seen a reduction of roosting birds by 100%. This was a major breakthrough for one of our customers in Florida, who after 25 years of bird problems was able to stop the problem from coming into his food packing plant. They had two units installed, filling a 900' long by 120' wide area in a warehouse," said Gary Crawford, President and CEO of GBS, Inc.

History shows pandemics happen. We're long overdue.* * reported Lynne K. Varner of Seattle Times

Joe Glavach, Manager of Purchasing and Food Safety of Thomas Produce Co in Florida stated, "We have eliminated the roosting (of birds) 100%. A side benefit is the packing area has a pleasant grape odor through out the complex. This system works."

Interest in this solution has stirred many pest control companies and animal control agencies. They have found in the past that there really has not been a safe and automated method to keep birds out of unwanted areas. The GBS dry haze methodology has proven effective in large internal and external areas that other non-lethal methods such as noise, netting and spikes have not worked.

Since the Avian Flu is getting such a foothold in other parts of the world, GBS, Inc. hopes that they can provide a service that would offer a solution to a very big problem. When bird's droppings contaminate the metal on your car, the acidic reaction can ruin your paint and cause you to be very unhappy. But worse, if dried bird droppings containing viruses, bacteria and parasites become airborne getting into your food or in your lungs when you are sitting in a nice restaurant, then you have a whole new health issue.

GBS, Inc. stands for Guardian Birdhaze Systems, Inc. and has a website at www.birdhaze.com where you can ask for a free DVD and brochure. See this and other ideas on how to prevent birds from becoming pests safely, by only offsetting their comfort level by 5%. They answer the phone with the slogan, "Invisible Protection, Visible Results." They can be reached by calling, 1-866- 557-4274 or 425-697-4274