THE strain of avian flu which has so far swept from South Korea to Russia made its world debut in 1959 inside a Scottish chicken, it has emerged.
Scientists tracing the history of the H5N1 virus have traced its first recorded episode to an Aberdeen farm. The dead bird was taken to Surrey for medical examination, after infecting two flocks of chickens.
But while British medical authorities are preparing to cope with a pandemic of a new H5N1 outbreak from South-east Asia, the case notes of the original Scottish case have not been consulted, on the grounds that the virus has grown far heartier and deadlier over the past 46 years.
The reams of research papers tracing the history of H5N1, which resurfaced in South Korea two years ago, show academics are unanimous in identifying the virus as being effectively made in Scotland.
A scientist identified only as Dr JE Wilson, of the Veterinary Laboratory in Lasswade, outside Edinburgh, is recorded as having worked on the case - sending the chicken to Addlestone, where the strain was medically isolated so it could be used in experiments. The Scottish H5N1 has been used in experiments, named "chicken/Scotland/1959".
It was the first of 21 avian flu outbreaks that have affected the world - including English turkeys in 1963, 1979 and 1991. But none showed the powers of contagion seen by the eight Asian countries to have confirmed H5N1, which has killed 69 people and 100 million birds.
Tom Pennycott, an avian veterinary specialist at the Scottish Agricultural College at Auchincruive, Ayrshire, said the virus may have the same title, but other characteristics will have changed over 46 years.
"The H5N1 that was found back in 1959 would have been quite different to the one that's around now," he said. "Similarly, there was an H5N1 down in Norfolk in December 1991 and it will be different to the H5N1 that's about just now."
He added that the only additional information he has been able to find about the H5N1 in Scotland was that two flocks of chickens were infected. The total number of birds affected, however, was not reported.
No medical agency in Scotland or England was able to give many details - except to say that the disease has become heartier and deadlier since it was found in Scotland. There is also no sign of Dr Wilson. The Moredun Research Institute at Penicuik said that it had no record of him and that he was likely to have passed away.
Flu strains are named after the various H and N protein codes recognised by the immune system. No H5 flu had ever spread to humans before 1997, when Hong Kong reported six casualties.
The 1959 Scottish H5N1 was - like all its successors - incapable of moving from species to species. But this changed last year, when the South Korean version showed itself capable of infecting pigs, rodents and humans.
Scientists have been most alarmed at the fast rate of H5N1's mutation. For the first time, the virus can survive in chicken faeces and in dead meat, without requiring the flow of fresh blood. This has made it stealthier, claiming victims who had no obvious connection with the agricultural industry.
But its low human death toll suggests that the disease has yet to pass from human to human.
Meanwhile, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, met British farmers yesterday and said he agreed with the National Farmers Union that chicken remained safe to eat.
Oct 21 (Reuters) - The H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus, which can be harmful to humans, has spread from Asia to Russia, Romania and Turkey.
Here are key facts about the transmission of the virus:
-- H5 and H7 subtypes of the avian influenza virus can be of either low or high pathogenicity. The discovery of an H5 type virus does not necessarily indicate the presence of H5N1.
-- High pathogenic H5N1 is particularly deadly to poultry (it can kill an entire flock within hours) but less so for wild ducks and geese, which act as reservoirs for the virus, most of the time show no symptoms and can fly long distances with it.
-- All birds are liable to infection from avian flu viruses as are some other animal species such as pigs although this is less common.
-- Transmitted via nasal/oral secretions and faeces.
-- Migrating wildfowl believed to be responsible for the spread of the virus from Asia and Siberia to Romania and Turkey. But trade in live poultry may have played a role in Asia.
-- Relatively difficult to transmit from bird to human. Thousands of cases among poultry in Asia have resulted in 120 human cases, of them more than 60 led to death. It must also be noted this is a region where there is often close human contact with live poultry in backyard farms.
-- Humans would have to be in prolonged close contact with an infected bird, usually in a confined space, as the virus can be carried in faecal dust or have direct contact with surfaces contaminated by infected droppings or secretions.
In Europe, this puts farm workers, veterinarians and those involved in culling infected birds most at risk.
-- Whilst the virus can exist in tissue, there is no evidence properly cooked poultry or eggs can be a source of infection. H5 and H7 highly pathogenic viruses are rendered inactive by heat (60 degrees Celsius/30 minutes) and by acid pH.
-- In the Asian human cases, exposure to the virus is thought most likely during slaughter, defeathering, butchering and preparation of poultry for cooking.
-- In 2003 a milder form of bird flu struck the Netherlands. Although it was a strain not normally dangerous to humans, some cases of conjunctivitus were noted and one veterinarian, who had prolonged close contact with infected birds, died.
-- Of the few avian influenza viruses that have crossed the species barrier to humans, H5N1 has caused the largest number of severe diseases and deaths. It follows an unusually aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and high fatality. Pneumonia and multi-organ failure are common.
-- Of even greater concern is the fact that the virus, if given enough opportunities, could change into a form that is highly infectious among humans. This could start the much feared flu pandemic.
Sources: World Health Organisation (WHO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
The first case of bird flu has been found in Britain, the Government said last night.
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said that a parrot has died from bird flu in quarantine.
It said the H5 strain of the virus was isolated in a parrot imported from South America, which arrived in this country in mid-September.
It marks the first case of the flu which is sweeping across the world from Asia in wildfowl and domestic birds.
It was unclear last night whether the strain discovered is the same lethal H5N1 strain found spreading across south-eastern Europe. Experts said there may be over 100 different avian flu strains of the H5 variety.
The H5N1 strain of influensa is dangerous because humans have no resistance to it but only a handful of cases have so far crossed from birds through very close contact.
But the incident means the general population of farmed and wild birds is still free from the disease and normal quarantine measures have been effective.
Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds said: "The confirmed case does not affect the UK's official disease free status because the disease has been identified in imported birds during quarantine.
The bird was part of a mixed consignment of 148 parrots and "soft bills" that arrived on September 16.
They were being held with a consignment of birds from Taiwan.
The birds, which were being held in a biosecure quarantine unit, have all been humanely culled, Defra said.
Miss Reynolds said this "incident showed the importance of the UK's quarantine system".
She added: "We have had similar incidents in the past where disease has been discovered but successfully contained as a result of our quarantine arrangements."
Defra stressed it was "very difficult" for humans to contract avian influenza but all those who came in contact with the culled consignment have been given antiviral treatment.
Micro-biologist Professor Hugh Pennington said he was not surprised by bird flu had reached Britain.
"The thing about the H5N1 strain is that it's very good at getting about. I wouldn't have been all that surprised if there was an announcement of that sort."
But he said he was a relief to know that the case was not among wild birds.
"If that happened it would be very difficult to know where the bird had come from," he added.
On Monday quarantine as imposed on a string of Greek islands off the Turkish coast after preliminary tests indicated an outbreak of bird flu.
Samples from a farm on the tiny island of Inousses, near Chios, were rushed for testing at a British laboratory to determine whether the H5N1 virus had entered the European Union for the first time.
The Greek authorities immediately imposed a ban on the movement of all live poultry and poultry products from the Chios region, "as a precautionary measure".
The EU has already placed total bans on poultry imports from countries affected by bird flu, including Croatia, Turkey and Romania.
Earlier this week, Markos Kyprianou, the EU health commissioner, told an emergency meeting of EU ministers in Luxembourg that the apparently relentless march of the disease westwards from Asia was unlikely to stop soon.
"All evidence indicates that the virus can be spread by wild migratory birds," he said. "This means that we cannot exclude outbreaks in other areas."
The Government's Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson, said a bird flu pandemic would kill about 50,000 people in Britain but he was hopeful it would not strike as soon as this winter.
But Sir Liam admitted it was now a question of "when, not if" the disease infecting birds in Asia and the fringes of eastern Europe mutated into a deadly form of human influenza.
The number of deaths in Britain could reach 750,000 if the human strain were particularly serious, although a lower figure was more realistic, he said.
In a typical year, influenza kills about 12,000 people in the UK, mostly the elderly and infirm. Sir Liam's comments came as the Government prepared to contact every GP in the country about the threat of a flu pandemic.
Officials are also revising contingency plans that could see schools closed and sporting events cancelled if the disease strikes.
Since the first case in Hong Kong in 1997, there have been 117 confirmed cases of avian influenza crossing to people in Asia and 60 deaths.
Scientists are worried that the virus will mutate into a form that can be spread easily from person to person. Because the strain is new, no one has immunity - paving the way for the most serious pandemic for 35 years.
New cases of bird flu have been discovered in Europe, with Britain and Croatia both confirming birds found with the disease and Romania detecting a suspected new case.
Britain says a parrot that died in quarantine has been diagnosed with an H5 virus, but does not say whether it is H5N1.
Croatia says it has detected a bird flu virus in six dead swans and has sent samples to Britain for testing.
Romania says it has detected a new suspected case close to its eastern border with Moldova.
Russia
Russian authorities say the risk of a bird flu pandemic is highly unlikely despite the flu being found in several districts in Russia.
Officials say they have the situation under control, quarantining several villages and taking protective measures at poultry farms.
Russian medical experts say so far, just one in 1 million people have contracted the virus through close contact with contaminated birds.
The World Health Organisation has sought to ease fears by saying the risk to humans in Europe remains "very low".
"The crisis ... may seem more intense now because birds in Europe have become infected," WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said.
"But the risk is pretty much the same as it has been, it is very low to humans, but we're worried about the transformation of the virus into a human pandemic strain."
In Indonesia, fears fanned by the Health Minister about a possible human-to-human transmission have eased after tests on a father and son hospitalised in Jakarta proved negative.
In its current form, humans need to be in prolonged close contact with an infected animal, usually in a confined space, to catch the disease.
Since breaking out in late 2003 in South Korea, H5N1 has killed more than 60 people in four Asian countries and reached as far west as European Russia, Turkey and Romania, tracking the paths of migratory birds.
Pressure on Roche
Amid growing fears about the spread of the virus, Tamiflu's maker, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche AG, has come under pressure to pump up output by any means possible.
The company has agreed to meet four generic drug makers with a view to possible tie-ups.
Activists who put pressure on drugs companies to make AIDS treatments accessible in Africa are urging Roche to renounce its rights on the drug in the developing world.
"Africa cannot afford to wait until Roche is done 'talking': Act-Up Paris and African Essential Drug Network demand that Roche ... renounce all its exclusive rights on Tamiflu in developing countries," the groups said in a joint statement.
Nevertheless, experts say Tamiflu, which is generically known as oseltamivir, cannot be regarded as a "cure-all" for H5N1 as it must be administered in the early stages of infection and will in some cases not work due to anti-viral resistance.
"There are lots of people who are given Tamiflu and it is not seen to be particularly effective," the WHO's Mr Thompson said.
"We know from experience with this drug that it is most effective very shortly after symptoms develop." - Reuters/ABC
The UK's defences to a flu pandemic will be tested in a Europe-wide exercise, the health secretary says. Patricia Hewitt said next month's exercise aimed to "strengthen our defences" against a flu pandemic which would be a "very nasty beast indeed".
Her comments came as EU health ministers meet in Hertfordshire to discuss Europe's defences to bird flu.
Experts fear a deadly outbreak if bird flu mutates with human flu and spreads easily between humans.
Operations to catch and test migratory wild birds for signs of avian flu began across the UK last week.
The UK's Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson has warned a flu pandemic could kill up to 50,000 people in the UK alone.
But Ms Hewitt told the BBC on Friday "nobody could say at this stage exactly how dangerous any pandemic flu strain would be".
Flu strain
The European Commission is considering putting 1bn euros (£677m) into a "solidarity fund" to be used if a human flu pandemic occurs.
It would be used for anti-viral drugs and vaccines to help combat such an outbreak. QUICK GUIDE
Bird flu
Ms Hewitt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was no suggestion that a pandemic was imminent, but added that preparations had to be made by countries acting together.
She said: "We are preparing of course for the risk of a large number of people becoming ill and you know the effect of course that would have not only on the NHS but on everybody's lives".
She said all EU states would conduct a simulation exercise to see how their health systems would cope.
"We'll have one of these planning exercises if you like, looking at what would happen right across Europe, so that we could learn the lessons there and continue to strengthen our defences," she said.
Testing plans
Ms Hewitt insisted the NHS throughout the country was prepared, but that these plans were being tested.
"Many of them are being tested at the moment in these simulation exercises, in order to make sure that in every part of our country, we're as prepared as we possibly can be".
On Thursday, Ms Hewitt said there was an "urgent" need to produce vaccine and anti-virals to help combat a human flu pandemic.
However, the minister made a clear distinction between avian flu and a potential flu pandemic.
She said avian flu occurred mainly in birds, "very occasionally" affecting people working closely with poultry, while the risk to the general population was "very low indeed".
Ms Hewitt said the risk of a flu pandemic remained unchanged, according to the World Health Organisation.
Fears that bird flu is spreading through Europe have heightened as officials confirmed cases of the virus in a parrot in British quarantine and among swans at a Croatian lake.
The parrot, that died in quarantine in Britain, tested positive for the H5 strain of the bird flu virus. The bird imported from South America arrived in Britain last month and had been held with a consignment of birds from Taiwan, officials at the British agriculture ministry said.
Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds did not want to speculate whether the bird had the lethal H5N1 strain, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003. That strain has recently spread into Turkey and Romania.
Croatia also said further tests were needed to determine if the virus detected in the dead swans was the H5N1 strain, feared to be the precursor of a human pandemic that could kill millions.
"According to samples from organs of six of the swans which were sent on October 19 to Zagreb, we have isolated the virus, an H5 sub-type," Croatian Agriculture Minister Neven Ljubicic told journalists.
The swans were found in the lake at Zdenci in the east of the Balkan country, which is one of 20 sites Croatian veterinary services have put under heightened surveillance as part of a huge operation to take samples from wild birds.
The European Commission has also confirmed the Croatian bird flu cases and said it would adopt an urgent measure to ban the import of live poultry and poultry products from Croatia.
In Romania, officials said a suspected new case of bird flu had been detected in the northeast of the country, only hours after assurances that the outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus had been contained to two locations in the southeast.
"The H5 bird flu virus has been found in a heron near the border with Moldova, on the Prut river," Mr Gheorghe Flutur, told the Medifax news agency. He said further tests would be carried out by a British laboratory to see if it was of the Asian strain of H5N1.
Asia battles outbreaks
As Europeans grappled with the flare-up of bird flu cases on their continent, China pledged to step up cooperation in an increasingly fierce global battle to contain the disease.
The United Nations' bird flu envoy flew into China where more than 91,000 birds have been destroyed to stamp out a new outbreak.
"The international community needs to co-operate fully to protect the health of the world's people," Chinese Health Minister, Gao Qiang, told UN envoy David Nabarro.
Meanwhile in Thailand, doctors reported the seven-year-old son of a Thai farmer who died of bird flu two days earlier had also contracted the disease, but they said the virus had not mutated and still cannot pass easily among humans.
The 48-year-old farmer, the 61st human victim of the virus worldwide since late 2003, died after slaughtering and eating a sick chicken.
"In this case the boy may have contracted the disease from the area where the chicken was dying. The boy had close contact with the virus (from being around sick chickens) and possibly from handling the birds' excrement," Siriraj Hospital director, Prasit Watanapa said.
Doctors said the boy was expected to recover but would remain in hospital for observation for three weeks.
Knee-jerk reaction
Meanwhile Canadian officials say Australia's decision to ban bird imports from Canada because three racing pigeons were found to have bird flu antibodies is a knee-jerk reaction.
Dr Jim Cark from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said there is no evidence the birds have ever been infected with the H5N1 flu strain which has killed over 60 people in Asia since 2003. H5N1 has not been found in Canada.
Mr Clark says Australia should clarify that Canada does not have a bird flu problem as soon as possible.
Airport hangars could serve as temporary quarantine stations if there is a major outbreak of bird flu.
The head of the New South Wales Health counter disaster unit, Dr David Cooper, says authorities would move into the bird flu battle plan if an outbreak was to happen.
Dr Cooper says under the plan, people coming into Sydney airport from high risk areas would by screened using thermal imaging.
He says people with a respiratory infection and a fever would be evaluated for quarantine.
"They'd be corralled at the airport and further assessments would be made and as I said quarantine stations, the exact sites are yet to be located," he said.
"Certainly we would hold people at the airport for a short period, but we would evaluate them in a quarantine station.
"The exact locations of the quarantine stations need to be flexible depending upon the number of people and where the outbreak may occur."
He says if there is an outbreak in Sydney, each area health service will have a fever clinic so people can be evaluated outside hospitals.
"We'd be identifying exactly where it is, identifying close contacts of those exposed and establishing fever clinics so people could be evaluated, setting up infectious disease hospitals and ensuring that people get the best care in the community," he said.
"The main plan is to get people managed at home as best we can."
The U.N.'s point man on bird flu warned in China on Friday that migrating fowl appear more susceptible to the disease, while countries in the region announced bans on poultry imports and discussed preparedness plans that could involve sealing off borders.
China's latest outbreak of the virulent H5N1 bird flu strain was reported this week in its northern Inner Mongolia region. Scientists say the country is a huge incubator for the disease because of its large poultry industry and vast territory, even though it has reported no human cases.
"There has been a shift in the susceptibility of wild fowl to H5N1," David Nabarro, chief U.N. coordinator for avian and human influenza, said in Beijing. "That's something that needs very careful attention if we're going to be ready for possible introduction of the bird flu virus in other locations through wild fowl."
Nabarro spoke during a bird flu fact finding mission that also included stops in Thailand and Vietnam.
His visit came as China was considering the feasibility of stockpiling the antiviral drug Tamiflu, which it doesn't currently produce, the state-run China Daily said.
"It is highly unlikely that we can fulfill large Tamiflu orders at short notice," Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals Ltd. spokeswoman Xu Chao told the newspaper. She said the country would need to import the drug, which is made by Swiss based Roche Holding AG.
Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China signed an agreement Friday to cooperate on an emergency notification system for outbreaks of infectious diseases, Hong Kong's government said in a statement. The three sides also pledged to cooperate more in training and scientific research.
The virus has killed more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since it began ravaging poultry farms in late 2003. Health officials fear it could mutate to a form easily spread among people, possibly sparking a global pandemic. So far, most human cases have been traced to contact with birds. Hong Kong and New Zealand on Friday announced plans to possibly seal off their borders if bird flu begins spreading from person to person.
"I think we will have some warning because the first cases will happen overseas" and the first line of defense will be to close the borders, Tony Fenwick of New Zealand's Ministry of Economic Development told the country's National Radio.
Hong Kong's health secretary said it might shut its border with mainland China in the event of human-to human transmission. Such action would likely mean large economic losses since much of Hong Kong's food and other supplies are trucked in from the mainland.
China's biggest city, Shanghai, also announced it would begin sterilizing arriving travelers' shoe soles, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Passengers arriving by land, sea and air are all expected to undergo shoe disinfection, but the report did not give details on how authorities would enforce such precautions for the millions of people traveling into the city each day. Shanghai and three nearby provinces have not reported any bird flu cases or outbreaks. Nepal announced it will ban poultry imports from Europe after the virus was reported in poultry in Turkey, Romania and Russia.
Taipei (dpa) - Taiwan declared on Friday it has succeeded in developing its own anti-bird flu drug Tamilfu and will begin mass- production if bird flu breaks out in Taiwan.
"A team of 20 researchers have been developing it since June. They have succeeded in developing Tamiflu which is 99 per cent like the Tamiflu made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche," Wu Cheng-wen, director of the National Health Research Institute, told a news conference.
"It took Roche 12 years to develop Tamiflu, but took us only six months. We are ready to begin mass-production and are waiting for Roche to license us to do so," he said.
Tamiflu, the only drug that can fight bird flu, is made from shikimic acid from Bajiao (Eight Corners), a star-shaped hard seed from the Chinese herb aniseed. There are 12 steps in making the drug which is now produced solely by Roche and its plants in foreign countries.
Taiwan's Health Minister Hou Sheng-mao said on Friday that if Roche refuses to license Taipei to make Tamiflu, Taipei will go ahead with the production anyway because Taiwanese law stipulates that human life is more important than patents.
On Friday, Taiwan stepped up bird flu prevention measures by banning passengers from carrying birds and poultry onto public transport.
The Transport Ministry said from now until Taiwan lifts the bird flu alert, it will bar people from carrying birds and poultry onto aircraft, trains and buses.
Six Taiwan airlines answered the call by suspending transporting birds. China Airlines, Taiwan's largest airline, has suspended providing chicken and duck dishes in its in-flight meals.
Fearing passengers might bring bird flu back from Southeast Asia, the Department of Health is now requiring Taiwanese returning from trips to Southeast Asia to check their own temperatures twice a day for 10 days.
Health Minister Hou said if there is a widespread breakout of bird flu in China, Taiwan would impose a ban on Taiwanese travelling to China.
Some three million Taiwanese visit mainland China every year for family reunions, sightseeing and business.
Birds are the main carriers of bird flu, which erupted in Southeast Asia in 2003 and has killed 63 people so far.
In the past week the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which can transmit from animals to humans, has been detected in China's Inner Mongolia, Russia, Romania and Greece, and has killed a man in Thailand.
Bracing for a global bird flu pandemic, many countries are stocking up on Tamiflu and some are preparing to manufacture Tamiflu themselves as soon as Roche releases the patent.
Venezuela today closed its border with Colombia across three western states amid concerns about a mild strain of bird flu detected in the neighbouring country.
The Agriculture Ministry ordered the closing of borders in the states of Tachira, Zulia and Apure to prevent the virus from crossing over into Venezuela, the state-run Bolivarian News Agency reported.
"We’re going to keep the border closed until the Colombian government releases official information and corrects the problem," Gloria Hernandez, a director of animal safety for the ministry, was quoted as saying.
Venezuela - along with Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Panama - earlier this month blocked imports of Colombian poultry products as a precaution after bird flu was detected there at three farms in Colombia’s western Tolima state.
But Colombian Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias said the virus was a mild strain of avian influenza, and not the deadly strain H5N1 that has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003 and recently spread into Romania, Turkey and Russia.
Colombia exported $US13m worth of poultry products last year, the vast majority to Venezuela.
Venezuela’s ambassador to Colombia, Carlos Rodolfo Santiago, said last week that his country planned to send a group of health experts to Colombia shortly to examine the situation.
The border closings came as health officials from six Andean nations gathered Friday in Lima, Peru, to begin co-ordinating a regional contingency plan to prevent the spread of bird flu.
Officials from Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela were discussing unified border controls and a joint response amid concerns that migratory birds could spread the flu to Latin America.
Health officials say humans cannot contract the virus from eating properly cooked chicken. Most human cases of bird flu have been linked to direct physical contact with sick birds.
The tourism industry is keeping a wary eye on the spread of Asian bird flu and is already planning its response to a pandemic that could see New Zealand seal off its borders.
The high-risk H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed 60 of the 116 people infected in Asia since late 2003 and the European Commission has advised Europe to prepare for a pandemic.
The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more than 20 million people worldwide and experts say that although two other outbreaks, in 1957 and 1968, had vastly lower death rates, they caused global disruptions.
This week, Southern Travel Holdings said "gathering commentary about Asian bird flu" was one of a number of major issues facing the tourism industry in Australia and New Zealand.
Managing director Kiyomi Gunji said concerns about the flu were behind a recent fall-off in customers from New Zealand's fourth-largest market, Japan.
"Even if they are not actually worried about the destination itself, if they have to come through crowded airports in other countries, they may think twice and may postpone until things settle down."
Tourism Industry Association chief executive Fiona Luhrs said it had been in contact with members about the flu threat as some operators had inquired about how they should prepare.
"We've alerted them to the fact it will be an issue for the industry if it happened and that there's a lot of planning going on within the Government and agencies such as ourselves."
Luhrs said the association had been working with the Ministry of Health to develop a strategy to cope with a bird flu outbreak. Much of that included the sort of generic advice being prepared for other industries.
The association was following up with a plan for practical steps that could be taken. That included detailed advice about issues such as the impact of border closure.
Accommodation providers "might have people staying with them who can't fly out. Who pays when the money runs out?"
Other issues included the general welfare of guests, the responsibilities of hosts with regard to sick guests if hospitals were full, and travel insurance.
"Once we get more detailed information out to them, we would hope that they'd have enough to be able to put a good plan together for their business."
The association was prepared to run regional seminars on how to prepare for the worst.
"How we manage visitors during this pandemic is going to have big implications for the post-pandemic recovery of the industry."
Tourism Holdings managing director Denis Pickup said his company had not seen any effect on business from concerns about bird flu but was preparing measures to cope with a pandemic.
"But it could be like Sars where the media hype is greater than the incidence of it."
The outbreak of Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in southern China in 2002 and its spread from Asia to Canada in 2003 was contained quickly and the associated shocks to economies were minimal.
Pickup said at this stage bird flu looked more likely to affect Asia and Eastern Europe than New Zealand.
At least seven African countries have banned imports of poultry from parts of Asia affected by bird flu. Senegal, Ghana, Congo, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya are worried because birds migrate there from East Asia and Europe, where cases have been reported.
Some local chicken farmers are expected to welcome the ban because they have long complained about the competition from cheap poultry imports.
More than 60 people in Asia have died from a new strain of flu since 2003.
Experts fear up to 150m people could die if the deadly H5N1 avian flu strain mutates so it can be passed between humans.
Bird flu
Those who have died so far are believed to have caught the virus after coming into close contact with birds such as chickens.
Officials are particularly worried about an outbreak of bird flu in Africa, where health systems are already overstretched.
'Serious'
Ghana has banned poultry imports from 13 countries, including China, South Korea and Iran, which last year exported some 80 tonnes of poultry to Ghana.
As well as the import ban, the Senegalese government has ordered a series of measures to combat the spread of bird flu:
"Things are serious and we are totally stopping imports of poultry and poultry products until the situation normalises," said Uganda's director of animal resources and disease prevention William Olaho.
In August, South Africa slaughtered some 6,000 ostriches to contain an outbreak of bird flu.
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This amazing 864 page volume, now in its ninth printing, is the result of an extraordinary fusion of Carla Henry's vast experience in every area of self-reliant living with the feedback and comments [many of which are reproduced in the book] of her more than thirty thousand readers around the world. The book, in consequence, is an invaluable treasure-trove of well-tested, practical and ingenious recipes, formulas, ideas and advice. Whether you live in the city or the country, you'll find yourself consulting Carla Henry's 'Encyclopedia Of Country Living' frequently and profiting by it - or just sitting down and reading it for sheer pleasure! It is perhaps the most comprehensive resource available on the topics it covers.
You'll learn:
"If you're dreaming about moving "back to the land" someday, or if you're already there and want to live more self-sufficiently [wherever you may be] you'll want a copy of the ninth edition of 'The Encyclopedia of Country Living'...We think you're pretty swell, Carla." - Organic Gardening
"Carla Emery is certifiably one of the craziest, warmest, [sometimes unintentionally] funniest, wisest, most lovable, and idealistic zanies now walking the face of the earth and we think this old world would be a lot better off if we had a few more people like her." - Mother Earth News
We couldn't agree more, and we urge you to add this one-of-a-kind telephone book-sized treasury of earthy, folksy and wise country wisdom to your own library, while you still can! You'll save a lot, you'll learn a lot, end you'll be endlessly informed, intrigued, amused and edified by its seemingly-inexaustible and ever-useful contents.
Outsize paperback; 864 pages
And it seems that we're not alone in our high opinion of this superb modern classic!
What reviewers across America thought of this superb reference and instructional resource book:
"It is a superb reference book, better than any number of those that pretend to teach you survival skills by concentrating on just a few crafts." - Survival Tomorrow
"This is really an encylopedia and, like a good encyclopedia, the narrative is clear and complete, the illustrations are plentiful and the whole thing is thoroughly indexed. You can spend a fortune on a library of neo-pioneer books or you can buy "BACK TO BASICS" - Times & World News, Roanoke, Va.
"If you're going to go back to the good old days you'll need some the good old days didn't have...an instruction manual." - Cincinnati Enquirer
"Open the book at any page and there's something of interest." - Chicago Sun-Times
"...it would be an asset to anyone's personal library at home. We recommend it highly." - Kansas City TimesFrom the Introduction:
"'Back To Basics' is a book about the simple life. It is about old-fashioned ways of doing things, and old-fashioned craftsmanship, and old-fashioned food, and old-fashioned fun. It is also about independence - the kind of down-home self-reliance that our grandparents and great grandparents took for granted, and that we moderns often think has vanished forever, along with supermarket tomatoes that taste good, packaged bread that does not have additives, and holidays that are not commercialized.In a period of terrorism, war, and increasing oil and gasoline prices, with the disruptions, shortages, and inflation which are likely to result, that last paragraph reminds us that we may all have an increasing need for improved personal survival, budgetary, and independent-living skills over the next few years! This is an essential book that anyone concerned with saving money and with deveoping practical living-skills must have.At its heart 'Back To Basics' is a how-to book packed with hundreds of projects, step-by-step sequences, charts, tables, diagrams, and illustrations to help you and your family reestablish control over your day-to-day lives. The book is organized into six main sections. The first deals with shelter, the second with energy, the third with raising food, the forth with preserving food, the fifth with home crafts, and the sixth with recreation. The subjects presented lead in logical sequence along the way stations on the road to self-sufficiency. An added feature, "Sources and Resources," lists suggestions for further reading plus names of suppliers of hard-to-find equipment.
Practical, useful information is provided on just about every skill and handicraft under the sun. You will learn how to make your own cheese, raise your own chickens, harvest your own honey, generate your own electricity, and brew your own applejack. You will be able to try your hand at blacksmithing, broom-making, and stone masonry. You will discover how to make soap, tan a hide, build an igloo, heat with wood, smoke a salmon, and create your own cosmetics. Some projects are difficult and demanding - building a log cabin or installing a solar water heating system are tasks for someone with experience, skill, and a strong back. But most of the jobs are well within the capabilities of the average person, and many are suited for family participation, especially for the kids.
While 'Back To Basics' is a book for doing, it is also a book for dreaming. There is no need to run out and start baking adobe bricks in order to enjoy learning the ins and outs of adobe construction. [It might even set you thinking about putting up your own adobe home someday]. Similarly, your imagination is apt to be fired by the interviews with folks around the country who are already practicing the skills and crafts described in 'Back To Basics'. Among others, you will hear from a husband-and-wife team who built a log cabin in Alaska, some suburban kids who raise goats and pigs in their backyard, a city worker who specializes in urban gardening, and a New Hampshire artisan who is keeping alive the Indian art of building birchbark canoes. There are also descriptions of by-gone ways of doing things: the technique of pitsawing, the Indian way of smoking a deer hide and making jerky, the inner workings of a water-powered gristmill. These - along with the historical background of each skill and charming old prints that illustrate many of them - make for fascinating reading.
Americans are a contradictory people. No nation has ever moved further from the harsh realities of wilderness existence. Yet. paradoxically, no nation has clung more tenaciously to its early ideals - to the concept of personal independence, to the mystique of the frontier, to the early pioneers' sense of rugged self-reliance. It is as if somewhere, deep in the American spirit, there has always lurked a distrust of the very technology that we, more than any other people, have spawned. Perhaps this distrust was an accident, but perhaps it was fate; for in the light of recent events that have called into question our easy dependence on modern technology, it seems to have been prophetic. Americans have long yearned for a return to basics; now, suddenly, it has become a necessity. 'Back To Basics' can do much to guide the way."
This is an absolutely essential book if you wish to increase your self-reliance and personal survival skills, as well as provide yourself with an essential reference and how-to resource in preparation for any future food or energy disruptions and shortages. We urge you to order your own copy quickly to be sure of obtaining one! This is an ideal companion to the equally-essential, bestselling 'ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COUNTRY LIVING' [see above].
Take this opportunity to add the superb, comprehensive, and invaluable 'BACK TO BASICS' to your survival, independent-living, or home library!"
Large hardback; 456 pages pages
