One dead fowl is too many

In my opinion, the language used to assure us that there is no Bird Flu in Trinidad and Tobago smacks of a bit of arrogance. To talk glibly about the mortality of chickens reported in the media does not represent anything unusual and that loss of chickens is standard in the industry must surely raise eyebrows.

One fowl dying from a disease is one too many.

How quickly did the members of the Poultry Association of Trinidad and Tobago report the presence of Aspergillosis to the Ministry of Agriculture?

The article confidently claims that Aspergillosis cannot be spread from birds to humans and therefore poses no risk. Why were birds with the fungus not culled and sold on the market at a reduced price?

What research has the Poultry Association of Trinidad and Tobago done that it can speak with such confidence about the fungus, Aspergillus?

I recall that with the outbreak of "Foot and Mouth Disease" in the United Kingdom members of the powerful "Beef Lobby" had the Minister of Agriculture eating beef in public and assuring the nation that the disease cannot enter the human chain. The Foot and Mouth virus is no longer afraid of humans.

AUGUSTUS LEWIS

Marabella