Chicken Little Syndrome

NST: The deaths of more than 11 wild pigeons in Sungai Petani is worrying health authorities.
In 24 hours they will know whether the birds died of avian flu — the disease that has killed 62 people in Asia since 2003. But no one is taking any chances.
Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Hawari Hussein said he has already alerted all state directors.
"All the States are prepared for an outbreak and the moment we detect a case, we will activate our preparedness plan," he said.
As for the dead wild pigeons, Dr Hawari said samples had been sent for analysis to the Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh.
"The death of the wild pigeons is cause for concern," he said, adding that officers had been sent to Sungai Petani to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, residents in Taman Mutiara, Sungai Petani, claimed the flock of pigeons which used to stay around the shophouses, started dying one by one since last Thursday.
The sight of the carcasses did not alarm them at first until it increased in numbers.
A complaint was lodged with the Sungai Petani Municipal Council which in turn, alerted the local veterinary office.
Both teams turned up at the housing estate today. While veterinary officers picked up stool samples for testing, council workers disinfected the area.
Meanwhile, Kedah Veterinary Department director Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam said test results would be known within 24 hours.
"We are taking this precautionary measure."
"At the moment, there is no indication of a bird flu case in the country but we have to be careful under the current situation," he said.
Since late 2003, bird flu has ravaged poultry stocks across Asia and jumped from birds to humans.
Most of the human deaths have been traced to close contact with infected birds.
World Health Organisation director-general Lee Jong-Wook warned that migratory birds were carrying the virus into domestic poultry flocks around the world.
"If we are unprepared, the next pandemic will cause incalculable human misery," Lee said as he opened a three-day council of war on H5N1 avian flu in Geneva, Switzerland today.
"No society will be exempt and no economy will be unscathed."