Sunday, February 05, 2006

The forgotten impact of bird flu

Though people may panic and try to stockpile Tamiflu, a mundane and nontheoretical impact of avian flu is sometimes overlooked.

Because the virus attacks poultry, in effect, it attacks economies by wiping out the foodstocks of affected nations. Both the poultry and tourism industries in China and other Southeast Asian countries where the virus has been detected already have been disrupted by outbreaks of bird flu.
And in today's global marketplace, such disruptions could have broader, more long-lasting consequences, as economic ripple effects could impact other countries as well.

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