Earlier this year, avian or bird flu caused widespread alarm, not only in Asia, but around the globe. The health and economic well-being of Asians are yet again hanging in balance, with the latest outbreaks in the region. Malaysian authorities are on the alert, following a discovery of the deadly H5N1 strain in some chickens in Kelantan.

During the last outbreak, wild birds were blamed for the spread of avian flu in the region. However, it must be remembered that avian flu is a new disease. There has been no talk of this disease throughout the last millennium until it started surfacing in Hong Kong in the 1990s. Why had the disease not surfaced years before in poultry farming?

It is present-day modern agriculture that is encouraging animal disease. Farming methods currently employed are most unnatural and unhygienic.

We should be questioning the whole business of animal rearing. Animals are handled and treated in an unacceptable manner, but people choose to turn a blind eye to this issue, in favour of quick and lucrative profits and to satisfy the ever-growing demand for meat.

As simple farms evolve into high-output 'factories', many animals never see the light of day. Their whole lives, from birth to death, are spent confined in cramped and filthy surroundings. They do not get any exercise or fresh air. Diseases can so easily spread in dirty, faeces-tainted surroundings, where animals are in such close contact with each other.

The chickens' growth is also speeded up using various unnatural chemicals that include hormones and low doses of antibiotics. These animals become resistant to antibiotics, which becomes critical when these antibiotics are needed to fight an infection. (The problem with humans in turn acquiring a cross-over resistance to these same or similar antibiotics has already been highlighted earlier by CAP).

Avian flu is spread thru birds' droppings. When poultry is taken for slaughter, there is no guarantee that the cleaning methods will rid the birds of infectious material. During CAP surveys, we have found that samples of chicken meat being sold in the markets were contaminated with the bacteria E.coli.

This bacteria is commonly found in the intestines and faeces of the animals. The methods in which the chickens are slaughtered and handled are deplorable in many instances. There does not seem to be any hygiene system in force to consistently ensure that the meat sold to the public is free from contamination and fecal bacteria.

There have been so many changes in the breeding of animals, not least among them, chickens. We are creating our own problems through so-called scientific methods. It is a doomsday phenomena.

With the current concerns about bird flu, there is an urgent need to look into and initiate a major revamp of the whole system of animal rearing and handling. The problems with diseases of this nature are not going to end.

The outbreak of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) among cattle in Europe was already a wake-up call and a warning. SARS was yet another warning. Now, avian flu is rearing its ugly head. We need to shift from the present-day method of raising animals to the normal natural farming.

The methods of animal rearing - including chicken breeding - are atrocious and unnatural. Commercialism encourages the disease outbreaks that we face again and yet again. The World Health Organisation and national agricultural authorities should examine the scientific methods
that are currently being used in animal rearing.

Until thorough investigations are done and assurances can be given, it may be wise for people to refrain from eating chicken.

The writer is the president of the Consumers Association of Penang.