UN task forces battle misconceptions of avian flu, mount Indonesian campaign

An excerpt from a UN task force on routes of spread of avian influenza:

"A new United Nations task force warned today against the "over-simplified" perception that wild birds are the main cause of avian flu, and urged immediate measures be taken among both domestic and wild bird populations to guard against its possible transference, while a UN task force in Indonesia begins a door-to-door campaign to help poultry farmers deal with the pathogen.

Governments, local authorities and international agencies need to take a greatly increased role in combating the role of factory-farming, commerce in live poultry, and wildlife markets which provide ideal conditions for the virus to spread and mutate into a more dangerous form, the Task Force convened by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) said today."

Read the whole news release here.


Damien