Turkey Copes With Bird Flu

This Time Europe Magazine article outlines some of Turkey's experiences during an outbreak of the H5N1 avian influenza (avian flu or bird flu) virus, and touches on the role that information can play during such outbreaks. The article states that during an outbreak in mid-December 2005, the government "wasted valuable time. There was no public awareness campaign, no precautions were taken along documented migration routes, and provincial vets were not adequately equipped."

According to the article, the government has been slow in responding to the public need for information and millions of Turks have little awareness of bird flu's dangers, especially in areas with little access to television. It was not until early January that the Turkish government launched a public-information campaign: setting up a telephone helpline, broadcasting health warnings on television and blaring the messages from mobile loudspeakers.

A significant challenge is to overcome farmers' reluctance to tell authorities about suspicious deaths because they are afraid that could mean the entire stock is destroyed. The article proposes that in the short term, Turkey will have to offer poor families compensation for birds that are culled as a result of the outbreak. In the long run, "countries like Turkey need to teach residents of rural villages and urban shanty towns that they can no longer raise poultry haphazardly in their yards and streets, where domestic birds can come into contact with the migrating wild birds that naturally carry the virus around the world. "