Chook Me!

Can the bird flu virus H5N1 virus be destroyed and killed by high temperatures like frying, or roasted?

If cooking poultry (chickens,ducks etc) like that can kill the virus, why are governments in countries affected by that disease need to cull millions of chickens and ducks world-wide? They can easily sell them off and advise consumers to cook them thoroughly well before eating them.Inspite of offering free chickens, yet consumers are still unwilling to take the risk to buy them. Is it because, they are afraid unscrupulous traders may sell sick chickens to ignorant vendors whom in return sell them to consumers like us? If we happen to touch and clean up sick chickens with that virus, will we be infected by that virus? If so, then that could be the reason for the poor sale of chickens in countires affected.

Public Comments

1. To get all the facts about the Bird Flu (H5N1) check out the Center for Disease Control's website. They have a lot of detailed information there.
2. I have heard it said that H5N1 viruses get killed by high temperature(above 70 degree C).I heard it over the media from my countries' Food and Drugs control department Boss
3. Currently to catch bird flu you need to inhale or ingest some bird poo. A microscopic particle of poo containing the virus is all it needs. The reason for the massive cull is to try and prevent more birds from becoming infected, becasue the more birds it is in, the greater the chance of a mammal such as ourselves or pigs of being infected. To mutate into a deadly pandemic, an H5N1 virus has to infect a cell at the same time as a mammalian flu virus has infected the cell. So by destroying the birds in massive culling programs, governments are limiting the possibility of this happening. It is safe to eat infected meat as long as it is cooked properly (over 70 degrees for 20min)