Since Best Pakistani Food Outside of Pakistan, here is something about food in Pakistan.
This newspaper advertisement about Bird Flu fears was published by the Pakistan Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock and comes to us via Jamash on Flickr.com.
The English-Urdu rhyming in the title is cute and attractive. Interestingly, and perhaps intentionally, the layout resembles a recipe more than a health brochure. A quick glance does tell us though that the basic message is clear – keep the chicken and the eggs coming! And don’t let the poultry farms go out of business.
There are many strains of bird/avian flu and it is the H5N1 variety that is causing panic around the world due to its possibly lethal effects on humans. In most cases, the infection has spread to humans via close contact with infected birds and even though a few cases of human to human transmission have been found, the strain has not yet developed the ability to easily pass from humans to humans. If that happens, the results could be catastrophic.
The virus is not food-borne, and that is why it is still considered safe to consume poultry products. However, given the close proximity of live birds to the consumers in Pakistan, the meat-sellers (slaughtering/preparation etc) should probably exercise extra caution. WHO has recommended that to be absolutely safe all meat should be cooked to a temperature of at least 70C. Eggs (esp. if boiled) should also be thoroughly cooked. Bird flu symptoms are similar to other types of flu: fever, malaise, sore throats and coughs, headaches, sore-eyes (conjectivitis), muscle pain and viral pneumonia – but the mortality rate is nearly 50%. There is no vaccine but countries are stockpiling Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug, which is expected to ease symptoms and help reduce further spread.
All in all, this is certainly a disease to keep a close eye on. Bird flu virus has already been found in chicken in Pakistan. As an agricultural/farming economy, Pakistan is at high risk and possibly less prepared to fight a pandemic than other countries. I am happy to see that the Government of Pakistan is proactively launching PR campaigns to keep the public informed. I hope the Ministry of Health is also preparing in parallel. There is news that SAARC may also be planning a strategy to fight Bird-flu regionally. That is good news!
Now I must get back to eating chicken and eggs for my mental and physical growth. My government tells me so!
By the way: is that KFC Chicken in the lower right hand corner?
An American friend recently commented (jokingly, ofcourse) that it was funny how often he noticed KFC signs in photographs of bombings in Karachi. What do they have against KFC?
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