'Tis the season to be jolly frightened of bird flu

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun.

2010/12/24

Ironically, the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean Peninsula is said to have grown into a haven for wild birds. This no man's land also serves as a stopover point and resting place for migratory birds. Watching the birds freely fly over national borders, the Korean people must feel all the more saddened that they remain divided.

According to "Toritachi no Tabi" (Journey of birds) written by Hiroyoshi Higuchi, an ornithologist who has been tracking migratory birds by satellite, and published by Japan Broadcast Publishing Co., birds rely on the sun and stars to get to their destinations. They risk their lives to travel. Some fall into the ocean. According to Higuchi, the purpose of their southbound journey in the fall is not to avoid the cold but to search for food.

With the arrival of winter birds, a highly pathogenic bird flu has begun to mark "Xs" across the Japanese archipelago.

So far, infections have been confirmed among ducks in Hokkaido, chickens in Shimane Prefecture and swans in Toyama and Tottori prefectures. Furthermore, in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, the largest wintering ground for cranes in Japan, a dead "nabezuru" (hooded crane) was found infected.

Izumi's "10,000 cranes," a special national treasure, travel in families.

They come to Japan from their breeding grounds in Russia and China across the Korean Peninsula and go back in early spring. Kagoshima Prefecture is at the heart of Japan's poultry industry.

As many as 5 million chickens are being raised within a radius of 10 kilometers from the site where the dead bird was found. The situation could have a serious impact on the local economy.

Migratory birds, which cannot be blamed for their behavior, can be likened to airplanes carrying bombs in the form of viruses.

The chickens huddled together are like innocent people intimidated by the roaring planes. Nobody knows which ones are bombers. If a single bomb hits a poultry house, it means a mass culling of chickens. For the chickens, it's a scene from hell.

"Birds fly from the northern land to the southern sky/ Messengers of freedom." These are lyrics to the song "Imjin River" that bemoans the tragedy of the divided peninsula.

Birds do not require passports to fly across national borders. Nor can they be easily quarantined.

That is why there is no way to stop such infections from entering Japan even when it spreads among flocks from the north. This is just one of many things that are beyond our control.