Wednesday, January 30, 2008

I am bored.... I want to say more, but really I am bored.....

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Bird flu....
Yes the dreaded disease is back in the country-West Bengal to be precise. The villagers found a few dead birds and informed the government, who came along, took samples and then responded that they were positive for the virus. In the meantime no one informed the villagers that they should take precautions while handling the birds and that they should not sell the birds, till they got the results back. So the villagers ate the birds and sold the birds. A day after the health department announced that it was Bird Flu, the villagers of Birabhur still didn't know what to do and have not been tested to confirm that they have not been infected.

The good news is you can't get bird flu from eating chicken flesh. Once the meat is cooked the bacteria is dead. Bird Flu is usually transferred from bird dropping, so egg shells have to be washed thoroughly, and from the feathers. You also need to wash your hands in warm water with soap each time to handle poultry products and wash utensils in hot water and soap.

As soon as my mother heard about the outbreak she banned everyone from eating chicken. We went out for dinner and had to order red meat and fish. My grandmother gave up chicken long ago, about four years now. Her opinion about how unhealthy it is to eat chicken was reconfirmed when my father got Chikungunya last year. She decided that he fell sick because he ate too much chicken. A few doctors in Kerala did confirm this theory as she watched the news on Asianet, the most trusted Malayalam channel. But they do deserve the benefit of the doubt. Chikungunya was a relatively new virus two years ago. No one knew it was caused by mosquitoes. Nor did anyone know that it had originated in Africa and was an African word. It does appear to have a Mallu ring to it, doesn't it?!