Kuwaiti Falcons Let In Bird Flu

One single case can eventually cause the deaths of millions of people...

The challenges of enforcing and maintaining strict quarantine rules when a bird flu outbreak occurs are immense and very difficult to enforce. At Ukmedix News we have seen reports that say the bird flu virus was introduced into Kuwait (which has had to cull millions of birds) from the illegal importation of falcons. Falconry is a sport much prized by rich Kuwaitis and when a ban on the importation or exportation of birds was announced in Kuwait in order to stop the proliferation of the H5N1 flu virus, there were howls of protest from the rich elite who didn’t want to have their sporting pastimes interrupted.

Due to the influence of the wealthy Kuwaitis some of whom apparently were even members of the ruling royal family, falcons were permitted to be imported into the country effectively breaking the importation and quarantine rules. The government’s Ministry of Agriculture claims that all birds imported were properly checked and seemed to be completely healthy before they were brought in, however some MP’s and lawmakers say they have documents that show some falcons were brought into the country without having the regular and necessary checks.

The dangers of a flu virus are that one single case can eventually cause the deaths of millions of people and birds. This case has shown how by the simple fact of lifting the regulations for a few prized falcons over 2 million chickens were forced to be killed. When and if a bird flu virus hits in a form which is contagious to humans, the regulations will have to be extremely strict in order to make sure that the virus does not kill more people than it has to.

Drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza can help a person survive from the bird flu virus but it is the strict enforcement of bird flu rules and regulations which will ultimately have the biggest impact on the death tolls from this deadly virus.