Bird Flu in France
I don’t want to frighten anyone, but (this seems to be Europe’s tactic in dealing with the Pandemic—don’t panic, but this is scary @*#!) when I was in Geneva last week they found a seagull about 200 meters from me that had died of Bird Flu. Now, that is bringing reality home—a little too close. We really do have it here, in Europe, in France, in my backyard, in my flight path. First found in some wild ducks and then a turkey farm in France. School lunch programs are cutting chicken off the menu, poultry sales are plummeting. Everyone is cancelling their orders. France, Europe's largest poultry producer, is to start vaccinating millions of birds against bird flu. March 1st a cat was found dead in northern Germany that tested positive for H5N1, the bird flu virus. Yikes. He had been munching on a wild bird.
Officials say that there is no danger of a cat passing it to humans and as long as you cook your chicken thoroughly it’s fine. Oh and buy a bell for le chat noir (except my cat is a scrapper and will take sloppy seconds from the feral cats in our neighborhood.) Most elderly people in France are refusing to buy any kind of fowl. Just this weekend, Grandma made us rabbit for our weekly Sunday visit, because she told us she is really worried about catching Bird Flu. No Guinea hen (called peintade a very popular dish here) no duck, no turkey, no buffalo chicken wings-- ok my French Mamie wouldn’t make those, but I would.
Everyone still seems to be buying and consuming eggs. Where as the chicken section of Carrefour (big grocery chain) looks like an elephant graveyard, the eggs are selling nicely. Neatly declared the winner in the chicken or the egg contest. Farmers on French television last night said that the remaining chickens alive are getting too big so they can’t even sell them even if they could find a buyer. I went to a Lebanese place for Chicken Shwarma and he had a big sign “Poulet de Brazil”. These are the signs of the times in France.
This is “le inside scoop” from the coop. I’m not a news writer, nor do I wish to be. You will find plenty to read about the Pandemic in your favorite newspaper or online or on television. In the meantime, I have attached a goat bell to my cat and I think I’ll just order a steak this time around. Just in case.
----
Pandemic Panic is all about
I can’t even let my cat out.
He might get dreaded Bird Flu.
Don’t you laugh, it’s too true.
My French Grandma refuses to eat
All types of feathered-fowl meat
So we Sunday sup on rabbit stew
…or any kind of four legged critter will do as long as it never flew.
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