The Same Thing, I Think, Happened After ‘Spring Break Shark Attack’

The city has finally spoken up about bird flu:

Tuesday night’s ABC movie about a fictional bird flu pandemic has prompted Philadelphia officials to post their real-life emergency response plan online.

Oh. So that’s how you get city officials to do something. Make a movie!

Phila. Plans to Show Bird Flu Facts vs. Fiction [KYW 1060]

We Can Hold The Olympics Here…

… because we’ll all be dead of bird flu!

The problem is the city doesn’t yet have a flu plan, according to a report by the Thomas Skelton Harrison Foundation, a Philadelphia group that promotes good government.

Genius, I tell you! Genius!

Phila. flu plan kept out of sight [Inky]

Trenton No Longer Most Dangerous Place In New Jersey

Sorry for all the New Jersey news today, folks, but things just aren’t that interesting right now on the west side of the river. And things are really bonkers over there.

To wit:

Authorities have discovered a mild form of avian influenza at a live bird market in New Jersey, but it is not the deadly H5N1 strain governments around the world are trying to contain, the state’s agriculture department said.

“The strain was found in a live bird market in Camden County. None of the birds in the market died from this virus, which is an indicator that the virus was low pathogenic and not harmful to humans,” said a statement by New Jersey’s Agriculture Secretary Charles Kuperus which was posted on Friday.

Details were not immediately available on precisely when the avian flu in Camden County was discovered.

Okay, it’s not the deadly kind of bird flu, but it’s still freakin’ bird flu! And if media coverage of pandemics have taught me anything, it’s that they’re never overblown and killer bees are going to be attacking us any day now.

Either way, good to see that Camden (the county, at least) is rallying after Trenton’s gang wars escalated. Newark, we’re waiting for some sort of response. Maybe you can have a plague outbreak among gang members or something.

Mild form of avian flu found in New Jersey [Reuters/Yahoo!]

Temple students, the answer to all of China’s problems

An editorial in the current issue of the Temple News bashes China’s plan to vaccinate all 5.2 billion birds in the country. Far be it from me to, well, know anything about said Chinese plan. At first glance it seems a bit impossible to do.

What I do know, however, is when I want think “commentary on China domestic policy” I immediately think “Temple News.” (Yes, newspapers are even italicized in my thoughts.) And I think that this is a good plan:

China consumes 14 billion domestically-grown poultry each year. Maybe the country’s manpower should focus on increasing the number of birds consumed. That way all supposedly infected birds will be eaten, thus eliminating the avian flu problem altogether and relieving China of their excess fowl population.

I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a snarky tongue-in-cheek comment. If it is, I’m kind of disappointed. I think eradicating bird flu by eating all the birds is probably the smartest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say about anything.

Egg Hunt [Temple News]
Photo by Thomas Hawk