Avian Flu: Wildlife Experts Say Closing Overseas Wild Bird Markets Would Help Prevent Spread of Disease

Here is an interesting article on bird markets in Asia. On the scale of the trade, it says this:

The trade in wild birds for the pet and songbird trade in Asia is vast. For example, in Bangkok’s weekend market during 25 weekends in one year alone, 70,000 birds representing 276 species from Asia Australia, Africa and South America were sold. In a single market in Java, Indonesia, between half a million and 1.5 million wild birds are sold each year.

On its contribution to the spread of avian flu, it says this:

According to WCS, which operates conservation programs in more than 15 Asian countries, wild birds are caught, usually by rural hunters, then brought together in large numbers often outside their natural range, and put in contact with other animals and people that have little immunity to diseases they might be carrying.

“The birds are caged in stressful, unnatural and often unhygienic conditions during transport and in the markets themselves where they are forced to stand beak to beak with both wild and domestic birds, and handled by humans – all providing the ideal conditions for transmission of disease,” said Dr William Karesh, Director of the WCS Field Veterinary Program.