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Traditional markets must clean up their act

`Slaughtering in crowded retail markets is the best way for bird flu to jump from poultry to humans.'

As avian influenza continues to spread, chicken and duck farms in central and southern Taiwan have suffered. Since the bird flu virus cannot survive at temperatures higher than 80?C, consumers will not be infected by well-cooked poultry even if the poultry has been infected with the virus. In the fight against the bird flu, the priority is to reduce human contact with live poultry.

According to epidemic-

prevention experts, the main cause of human infection is contact with poultry feces and bodily fluids. The first line of defense against possible human infection is to lower people's chances of coming into contact with live poultry.

But Taiwan's media have wrongly focused on telling consumers how they can avoid purchasing the meat of infected chickens, and interviewing health officials on how consumers can tell whether a chicken has died from bird flu. Some reports have even encouraged people to purchase chickens that are slaughtered in front of them. These examples are troubling.

Consumers generally prefer to purchase chickens at traditional markets. But slaughtering in crowded retail markets is the best way for bird flu to jump from poultry to humans. No wonder it has been banned in Ho Chi Minh City and Beijing.

The habit of buying chickens slaughtered on the spot can be corrected through massive publicity and education. According to the Husbandry Law (畜牧法), "All edible pigs, cows and sheep must be slaughtered in slaughter houses." As for poultry, in accordance with the Husbandry Law, the Council of Agriculture announced last June that: "Poultry must be slaughtered in slaughter houses starting July 2004."

But the council was afraid that the regulation might be excessive, so it spelled out exceptions for "non-business home slaughtering of poultry" and "poultry slaughtering by vendors at traditional retail markets or temporary marketplaces."

Although the council has made these exceptions, it has still triggered dissatisfaction and protests, mainly from wholesalers. For example, the H5N2 virus, a weak strain of bird flu, was discovered in samples from a duck sold at the Taipei City Poultry Wholesale Market in December. But business operators at the market held a public hearing not long ago, demanding that the council abolish the new regulations. Facing public pressure, agriculture officials could only fold.

In the face of Taiwan's outbreak, we have to understand the hardships of local poultry farmers. But we also have to safeguard people's health. The overall policy direction of banning live poultry slaughtering deserves attention. But it has to be carried out step by step -- first begin with poultry wholesalers, then retailers who deal with consumers directly. The government should also actively guide and reward business operators to set up slaughterhouses. Meanwhile, the government should educate consumers that purchasing poultry killed at retail markets is unhealthy.

The council can take the bird flu outbreak as an opportunity to reform sanitation standards for poultry slaughtering, so as to protect consumers' health.

Cheng Kuo-chung is a Democra-tic Progressive Party legislator.

TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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