| Summary: | The importance of enclosures Cue: The H5N1 avian flu virus is not the first kind of avian flu to affect poultry flocks, either in Africa or other parts of the world. However, this particular strain of the virus is especially dangerous, because as well as affecting birds, it can also be passed to humans, and is often fatal. Once an outbreak occurs, the most effective way of preventing it from spreading is, currently, by destroying affected birds and preventing transfer of the virus outside the outbreak area. However this is an expensive and labour-intensive process. It is therefore much better to invest in protecting poultry flocks so that they are less like to catch the virus, than try to deal with outbreaks when they occur. So how can poultry, flocks be protected? For some diseases such as Newcastle disease, vaccinations are available. However, with avian flu the effectiveness of vaccines is less clear, and most countries are not adopting vaccination as a control strategy. Instead, poultry keepers are being advised to protect their flocks by housing their birds in some kind of enclosure or cage, and taking precautions to ensure that all food and water are disease-free. Dorothy Tumbo lives in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, and keeps chickens in an enclosure, called a fowl run, in her backyard. She spoke to Sylvia Jiyane about how this helps to protect her birds, and began by explaining how, on one occasion when some of her birds got sick, she took them to a local veterinary clinic. The vets feared they might have a form of avian flu, although not the H5N1 strain, which has not yet occurred in Zimbabwe. IN: ?At one time I had about 50?? OUT: ??more if they are infected.? DUR?N: 6?51? BACK ANNOUNCEMENT: Celia Abolnik, a senior research assistant from a veterinary institute in South Africa, was talking to Lucas Moloi. Earlier we heard Sylvia Jiyane interviewing urban poultry keeper Dorothy Tumbo. The interviews come from a radio resource pack on avian flu produced by CTA. Transcript Tumbo At one time I had about 50 that I ...
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