• Animal Tracks •

I was explaining how we already take precautions with the younger birds against low path avian flu which has been in the U.S. for generations now. I also explained that I am absolutely opposed to the USDA plan of 'flock depopulation' [killing all birds in every flock where H5N1 is found even if only one bird tests positive] in the event of any high path avian flu [H5N1] outbreaks. The simple reason being that it is the way of nature for a disease to pass through a population and that those members of the population, whether chickens or people, who demonstrate resistance to the disease to survive. This is a natural selection for resistance to the disease. Over time the resistance to the disease becomes more prevalent in a population and the disease looses much of it's impact on future generations.

This is clearly once again a demonstration of the arrogance of big agribusiness deciding that they can better address disease than nature.

Also, the commercial implication is that small flocks from growers who pasture their birds are more likely to be wiped out entirely. The completely confined factory flocks will be pumped up with more drugs and kept in lock down to ensure no possible contact with anything natural to protect the investment and get the birds to slaughter. This in my mind is entirely wrong headed and would lead us further away from a sustainable agriculture.

I have lately been reading a book by Dr. Majid Ali "The Rooster, The Flu, and the Imperial Medicine of the New Empire". While the editing is really horrendous the content is right on. I have heard Dr. Ali speak on radio and find him to be cogent and honest about modern medicine and how to approach human health. He is an advocate of wellness and health thorough lifestyle choices that begin with good nutrition. Nothing that the industrial medical complex wants to hear because it would mean less people needing pills.

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