Comment on Post at Effect Measure
Now don't be cynical revere. You know that all feces-depositing chickens in nice neighborhoods have passports. No nothing to worry about.
I have to ask what tests positive in these cases. Do they test for the virus itself or for the antibodies to the virus? Wouldn't a well pig or chicken with H5N1 antibodies be an asset? I know duck shed live virus for an extended period, but is there any evidence that pigs and chickens do?
Thanks for any info.
I believe they are looking for genetic evidence of the virus itself either through PCR (which amplifies and detects genetic fragments unique to the virus) or by seeing if there is an immunologic reaction to H5N1. There are a variety of ways to do this, but the most specific is to see if the patient's serum prevents effects of the live virus on cells (either the clumping of red blood cells or actual pathologic effect on cells in tissue culture). This latter technique, because it uses live virus, should be done in a secure laboratory.
I am not in medicine, but it seems to me if the avian flu virus is communicable from bird droppings, it really doesn't matter if we have human-to-human transmission. The pandemic shall come bombadiering from the sky.
Lin
No, it matters quite a lot. Just having virus in the environment is not the same thing as being exposed. Bird droppings aren't usually aerosolized but coughs and sneezes are. H2H will be much more serious than bird crap, believe me.
I don't know whether it is Roos or who that writes the articles at CIDRAP, but I have to hand it to them for maintaining their 'just the straight facts, folks' demeanor. Those guys have to just wanna pop off a rant about some of this stuff sometimes.
I do like the monicker 'chickenshit 'theory. I think we can work on this and create a nice murder mystery--(in a monty-python knights of 'nih' voice) "Colonel Mustard in the Pantry wiiiith--a chicken!"
As someone who keeps birds (parrots), I can concur with Revere - there is a big difference between a sneeze and bird droppings. Ornithosis is a respiratory disease (caused by Chlamyida psittaci, I think?) which is commonly carried by pigeons.
Even for a bird that is actively shedding the organism in it's droppings, the droppings have to dry up to a powder to be very infectious to people. There would be a lot more people coming down with ornithosis if even fresh droppings were infectious - there would be cases from people using benches in city parks, for example. And we would likely know about it, too, because it is a reportable disease.
Even though the human disease is often referred to as "parrot fever" the only people I know who have had it kept pigeons under conditions where the sanitation was, well, not what it should have been. I don't think any of the parrot owners or breeders I know have ever had it - and we tend to live in very close contact with birds.
Perhaps not relevant to this board, but...
Has anyone heard of the flourescent fecal detector (verifeye.net) that is being geared towards the poultry industry? Seems like a good way to reduce risk of contamination through consumption.
bruce: Haven't heard of it, but it sounds like it would be useful as a plug-in for my newsreader, too.
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