Bird Flu Ban Hits Puerto Rico Cockfights

[cookiejar]

A little TOO close to home

 

 

Bird Flu Ban Hits Puerto Rico Cockfights

By LAURA N. PEREZ SANCHEZ 01.04.08, 5:38 PM ET

 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A ban on bird imports has forced the cancellation of more than 100 cockfights and dealt a blow to the lucrative industry in this U.S. territory, a government official said Friday.

 

Puerto Rico halted all bird imports Thursday after a rare outbreak of avian flu was reported in the neighboring Dominican Republic, where authorities killed more than 100 chickens including fighting roosters that tested positive for the virus.

 

The cancellations could cost the industry millions of dollars in lost revenue, said Carlos Quinones, the cockfighting director for the island's sports and recreation department.

 

"The matches were already organized, and people had already requested their visas and made hotel reservations," Quinones said. He added that fights involving foreign roosters can draw as many as 900 people.

 

Cockfighting has been outlawed in 49 U.S. states, and Louisiana - the pastime's last U.S. refuge - has approved legislation to make it a crime beginning in August. But in Puerto Rico, the sport is still legal and remains big business.

 

The island has more than 100 licensed cockfighting pits where roosters peck and kick each other with plastic spurs. About 200,000 fights are held each year, with annual ticket sales of up to $12 million, Quinones said.

 

The ban could be lifted within a week if Dominican health officials do not report further outbreaks, Agriculture Minister Gabriel Figueroa said. For now, it applies to birds from all countries because it is possible the infected Dominican birds originated elsewhere, he said.

 

The H5N2 strain of the virus detected in the Dominican Republic is not a danger to people but has led to the killings of more than 5 million birds in Japan alone since 2005. The more virulent H5N1 strain has infected humans, killing more than 120 people in Asia.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mother]

How sad they can't make all that money at the expense of the rooster.

 

H5N2 has been found in the states too and open air markets have been closed for sanitation many times in Pennsylvania for it. Last year it was found in wild ducks in Illinois I believe and if I'm not wrong, H5N1 was also detected in one of the ducks or a derrivative of the same. It too, was not considered a problem??? I believe H5N2 was recently in Canada also and a lot of birds were killed because of it. It's not considered dangerous to humans but with the way H5N1 is mutating anything is possible.

 

to make us think.