Mysterious death of migratory birds

Coming in the midst of increasing global alarm over deepening threat of a flu pandemic, as lately gripping Europe, worrisome, indeed, is a news report (November 7), pointing to an unusually large number of migratory Siberian birds dying at lakes and in the coastal areas of Sindh.
The tragic spots have been identified, as lakes and ponds in Badin at Nirriri, Shakoor, Shekhani Gharri, Ahmed Rajo, Zero Point. According to the news report, thousands of migratory birds - water ducks, mallards, swans, and cranes belonging to Siberian areas, had been migrating year after year, from the Arctic Siberian areas to spend a few months of mild winter at lakes and ponds in Sindh, especially in coastal areas.
Their presence in the area usually attracted a large number of local hunters and villagers used to crowd lakes and ponds of the area during this part of the season for trapping them. Now the mysterious death of these birds has created panic and fear amongst the villagers and hunters alike, more so from international media reports about the spread of bird flu in Asia.
Quoting the District Game Warden of Wild Life Department, Syed Ghulam Hussain Shah, confirming such reports, it has also been stated that a team of international bird experts would soon be reaching Badin to probe the causes of death of the migratory birds.
The Game Warden is reported to have said that as the government laboratory was closed due to the three-day Eid holidays, they had yet no laboratory reports on the cause of such a large number of casualties.
The District Nazim, Badin, Ali Anwer Halepota, assured that steps would be taken to ascertain the causes of death of the migratory birds. Meanwhile, the mysterious death of migratory birds has not only created fear amongst local population, but also worried the owners of a large number of poultry farms in Badin district, as hundreds of thousands of poultry birds are being culled in different parts of Asia due to the fear of bird flu.
At a time, when the fears of flu pandemic as lately spurred by its detection in Turkey and other European countries, has been creating widespread concern world-wide, the casual manner in which the situation is being handled in this country, would certainly point to proverbial apathy to even the most alarming developments around the world. Some idea of the mounting global concern about the matter may be had from a news report (November 7).
According to it, in his opening remarks to a special meeting, organised by the Economic and Social Council at the United Nations, its President and Pakistan's UN Ambassador, Munir Akram, said the world was facing re-emergence of the disease, Avian Flu, which, he said, was spreading to areas about which very little was known, except that it was a possible global threat.
The virus had spread from Asia to the Middle East and Europe along the path of migratory birds, and there were now fears that it would spread to Africa. The problem, he said, was urgent, global and crosscutting, and necessitated a sustained effort by all.
He said it was exactly the kind of challenge that the new mandates given to the Council by the recent Summit were designed to address. The Avian Flu, he said, was a call for collective action - a call for more investment in vaccines and for action that would necessitate the entire world shared the costs.
To that end, he said, international financial institutions should consider setting up a fund to help put in place preparedness plans and compensate farmers for losses incurred in culling their poultry.
It will, however be noted that no human infections have been reported in Europe. But some experts believe the first human-to-human mutation of H5N1 is likely to occur in Asia, where 62 people have died since late 2003.
Therefore, we have all the reason to take a really serious view of the widely feared flu pandemic, to which we are certainly more vulnerable than some of our neighbours.