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SCMP Reporter

When Hong Kong was hit by the H5N1 bird flu virus, it resulted in four human deaths.

  As a way of curbing the disease, the Government ordered the slaughter of more than one million chickens.

  I think this was a futile exercise. It is extremely cruel to kill any living thing, especially on such a mass scale.

  We are living creatures and so are chickens.

  Do four human deaths justify the wholesale killing of more than one million birds? I don't think so.

  And what was the outcome?   Nothing. The authorities are still not sure whether the flu can be transmitted from birds to humans.

 It looks likely the flu could still affect ducks, geese, pigeons and quails in the future.

  Are they also in line for mass extermination?   If the virus appeared in dogs and cats, they too could be the next targets.

 Is there no other way of controlling such a disease?   We should put our doctors, biologists and scientists to work to find ways of curing those already infected.

  We must also work hard to develop a vaccine to prevent further infection.

  In this way we would avert a repetition of the crisis.

 It is true Hong Kong has not been the only place to kill livestock infected with disease.

  Authorities in Britain, the United States and Zambia have slaughtered animals infected with various diseases, including so-called mad cow disease.

  However, more and more people worldwide are saying it is not right to slaughter animals on such a scale.

  Such terrible diseases are a warning that the balance of nature has been upset.

  It is a warning to protect the environment from the pollution we are inflicting on it.

  These terrible mutations are an indication that humankind is tinkering with the genetic makeup of our animal and plant life.

Chun-ngai is a student of TWGHs Wong Fut Nam College 



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