At least try to be a little, you know, responsible

Listen up, folks.  This won't take long.

I've already posted quite a bit on the need to take the threat of a flu pandemic seriously without succumbing to hysteria or taking unwarranted and unhelpful actions, spreading rumors, or that sort of thing.

In spite of some irresponsible words you may have heard from the mouth of whatsisname Williams on NBC news tonight (about how there are many people worried about the following), there is absolutely no reason to fear that your Thanksgiving turkey might be infectious with "bird flu" if you live within the United States.  None, period.  I can't promise you that this will be true next Thanksgiving, or even this Christmas.  But it is true now.

The level of caution and over-reaction that poultry companies go to in reaction to finding a single infected duck or something on their farms reminds me of the "mad cow disease" scare a few years ago.  Whole herds were slaughtered if a single animal tested positive, and the result was that the disease never was allowed to even come close to threatening the US population.

You already know how to handle a turkey to guard against salmonella, and right now that's about the only threat it poses.

(Yes, I heard the NBC news tonight, but it wasn't exactly of my own volition.)

Comments

[Phoenix]

You know, I just wish the government would keep some things to themselves and make sure the MSM does not get wind of them. This bird flu is ridiculous. The government is doing all it can to thwart a pandemic, and if one surfaces, then we should be informed and told where to go get our shots.

But this constant harping every night about this flu is just nuts. People get scared, and it is not as if we can go out back and build ourselves a bird-flu shelter. There is literally nothing we can do. So, how about shutting up and letting our anxieties levels drop a bit.