Go vegetarian to avoid bird flu, says rights group

Go vegetarian to avoid bird flu, says rights group



BEIJING (Reuters) - Scared about getting bird flu? Then the only really safe way to protect yourself is to go vegetarian, an animal rights group said on Tuesday.

Headlining a new Chinese and English language Web site (www.avianflu.cn) "Avian flu: it's your fault," the Asia Pacific branch of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says it is drawing attention to unsavory factory farming practices.

The cramming together of thousands of chickens in buildings where the birds are never allowed outside and live in their own filth was an ideal breeding ground for disease, the group said in a statement.

"Avian flu is just one symptom of a very sick and cruel industry," it quoted PETA Asia-Pacific director Jason Baker as saying.


"With diseases running rampant in crowded, filthy factory farms and the significant health risks posed by the 'backyard'-type farms common in Asia, the safest thing to do with chicken flesh is to avoid it like the plague," he said.


Bird flu has killed about 100 people in Asia and the Middle East since 2003, including 11 people in China, and experts fear the virus could mutate and spread easily from human to human.


They also say properly cooked poultry and eggs should pose no danger, though they warn people to stay well clear of birds which have died of sickness in case it be avian influenza.

http://tinyurl.com/hkby3 Netscape News

Personally I'm a pork man myself. Nothing like home made biscuits, Virginia cured ham, and red-eye gravy. (Muzzies take note; yes I said pork!)