Bird Flu ... and pigeons.

The first case of bird flu has been confirmed in France - a dead wild duck, after Germany, Italy, and other European countries. France combines two problems - it is Western Europe's main migratory crossroads for wild birds, and it is its biggest poultry producer. But there is also a sophisticated health system and the level of awareness is very high. There does not seem much panic just yet. The worry should probably more about the developing world - particularly Africa where people live in close contact with chickens and birds, which means that the virus can more easily evolve into a man-to-man virus.

Personally, I will actually take the opportunity that the sales (and prices) have gone down (by 15 or 20%) to eat more chicken. I don't really get this - what is the rationale behind people not buying chicken? One can hope that the government has learnt its lesson since it told us that the radioactive cloud from Chernobyl stopped at the border!

One thing I wonder about though is the pigeons. There are lots of them in Paris and they are all over the place in most European cities. But nobody seems to be talking about that....

Maybe that's a ridiculous points but while I will eat my chicken, or my foie gras, I will try to stay away from those nasty pigeons anyway.