JEDDAH, 4 November 2005 — The publicity surrounding the possible development of the “bird flu” pandemic is creating an underclass of victims — domestic pets. A steady stream of bird owners arrives at one Jeddah veterinary clinic every day, asking for their family pets — ranging from small birds to exotic and rare ones — to be disposed of in one way or another.
According to Deborah Zahid at the Tahilia International Veterinary Clinic, many domestic birds never get to the clinic, but are simply released into the wild where they usually do not survive very long. If they are not carrying any disease, they can acquire one in the wild; if they are infected with flu, they become another vector for the spread of the disease.
“There is, as far as we are aware and according to official sources, no case of the new strain of bird flu in the Kingdom,” said Zahid. “There is however the seasonal rise in cases of what you could call ‘normal’ bird flu caused in part by the change in weather.”
Each year during this season, many domestic and wild birds get the equivalent of a human cold. This year, with the public focus on the HN51 virus and its potential danger to humans, at the first sign of an avian sniffle, panic sets in. The first thought of many bird owners is to get rid of the potentially lethal source of infection and a previously loved family pet is seen as a potential killer.
The seasonal bird flu is, according to Zahid, not a zoonotic disease, i.e., it will not transfer from animal to humans. There are diseases carried by birds — psittacosis is one — which can cross between species.
The danger of the new strain of bird flu is that it is a zoonotic form.
“We can vaccinate against the common form of flu,” said Dr. Nadeem Qureshi, one of the clinic’s vets who is busy inoculating a variety of birds every day. “It may have some beneficial effect against the new strain, but it is certainly effective against common flu.
Vaccination and de-worming should be carried out on domestic birds once a year.”
The HN51 flu has a six-day incubation period. The vets suggest that that at the first signs of discomfort in the bird — eyes drooping half shut, mucus or liquid seeping from the nostrils or a roughness in its voice — the bird should receive a vaccination. It can do no harm and usually does a great deal of good. “Then we keep it in isolation for a few days; if it gets better, it is clear of the HN51 virus,” said Zahid.
Bird owners can take some simple and effective precautions at no cost to themselves.
The easiest is to bring the bird inside a house or outhouse to keep it away from possible contact with wild birds who are the main vectors of the disease. If this is not possible, then make sure the roof of the cage is covered with a plastic sheet or even palm fronds; it keeps wild bird droppings away from the pet. Droppings from infected birds are another principal vector of the disease. Ensure that there is no food scattered near the pet’s cage as this attracts wild birds who could be infected. Municipal authorities must become involved in the preventative measures as well. Crows and migrating birds, which seem to be the carriers of the disease and have trekked across half the world carrying it, look upon garbage dumpsters and human rubbish as food sources.
The more people throw away half-eaten food and domestic rubbish, the bigger the potential for infected birds to stop over for feeding and leave behind infected droppings which may in turn infect local birds.
Pamela Aaltonen, public health expert and associate professor in the School of Nursing at Purdue University, in a widely published statement says that individuals can considerably reduce the risk of possible infection by flu with simple hand washing.
Many people believe viruses such as the common cold and influenza travel through the air and enter the victim through the mouth or nose; most viruses don’t fly into your body, they hitch a ride on vaporized droplets of liquid from sneezing and nose blowing.
Often these droplets land on items people touch frequently, like doorknobs, desks or telephones or computer keyboards. Once the virus on the hands all that is needed is to touch, scratch or rub your eyes or nose and the virus can enter the body.
Research into the transfer of viruses has shown that over 90 percent of respiratory viruses get into your body when you touch your eyes and nose with your fingernails.
“Most people who do wash their hands do so much too quickly,” she says. “In order to be effective, hands should be washed with soap from 20 to 25 seconds,” said Aaltonen.
“The three keys are soap, friction and water. If we could get the world to embrace handwashing, we would have much less illness.”
Simple good housekeeping — private and public — and basic hygiene would go a long way toward preventing an outbreak or at least delaying it, stated Zahid.
Any delay in preventing an outbreak means further progress in developing and distributing vaccines for humans and — much to the gratification of some local parrots — domestic pets.
