A former member of the Council of State, Dr Mrs Mary Grant has advocated the promulgation of a law to prevent the rearing of poultry at home as a stopgap measure against the bird flu disease. She expressed concern about the rapid development of poultry farms in residential areas, saying such practices could lead to serious consequences in the event of an outbreak of an epidemic. Dr Grant, speaking in an interview on measures to avoid the spread of an epidemic, also raised some concerns about how sanitation issues were treated in the country. She said since the bird flu disease was airborne, there was a likelihood of severe consequences not only on the owners of such poultry but also those in the neighborhood if there was an outbreak. "How can human beings be living with birds? Do we all have to wait till people die before we take a decision to protect life and property?" she queried. She said unlike big farms where strict hygiene was observed on regular basis, the same could not be said of backyard farms and called for an educational campaign on the issue. Dr Grant commended measures put in place to "Check movement of birds, across the borders in times of outbreak of the diseases but saw the dan¬ger in a domestic user who slaughtered and con¬sumed the birds before a sickness was detected. She also asked dealers in poultry feeds to keep such products at hygienic places and from the reach of migratory birds, which might be carrying the disease. Dr Grant said she was anxious to revisit the issue because when the AIDS disease was discovered people did not take it seriously, adding that "so now we have added this to malaria that we cannot treat." "If there is going to be a cure for bird flu it is not now. Prevention is better than cure," she stressed. Dr Grant also blamed the filth in the country, particularly the cities, on withdrawal of sanitary inspectors and called for serious efforts at contain¬ing the situation. Source: Daily Graphic