Emergency closure of dozens of markets is prudent, but not sufficient, animal welfare groups say
New York City, NY — The government’s temporary emergency shutdown for five days affecting 80 live bird markets in New York City and Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn, as well as nearby counties of Suffolk, Westchester and Nassau Counties is prudent given detection of bird flu, animal welfare advocates say, noting that the temporary move is not sufficient to deal with a public health endemic in populous centers where wild birds, poultry and humans interact daily spreading a virus without a cure.
“The virus is in the city, where you have a populous mixing of infected wild birds and market birds, and many people, unlike you would at an outbreak in Iowa at a poultry operation,” said Dr. Jim Keen, Director of Veterinary Sciences for the Center for a Humane Economy. “While prudent, this weeklong shutdown is ineffective because it puts a Band Aid on a bleeding bullet wound. Bird flu will soon be returning to these markets.”
What’s unique about New York, is that live birds go from market to table, and that brings greater risk of bird flu spreading to humans, added Keen, who specializes in emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases of farmed animals.
The emergency shut down also calls for killing infected birds. Every day our country kills 800,000 to 1 million laying hens, which is also not a long-term solution.
State and federal agencies should be calling for the urgent use of a proven vaccine, animal wellness group say, given that bird flu has affected more than 156 million commercial and backyard poultry in our country, along with an untold millions more wild birds.
The emergency shut down was apparently in response to recent infections of 420 birds on Feb. 4 in Queens, 250 birds in the Bronx, as well as 110,000 ducks on Jan. 7 in Suffolk County, according to USDA statistics.