Plague and Profit - The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu - page 48

declarations of victory—the international protocol was to carefully monitor flocks for six months before
ruling that a region or nation was free of avian influenza. The international agencies warned that the crisis
was not over, and they warned countries not to restock poultry until they had adequate surveillance and
biosecurity in place. 205 Nonetheless, Vietnam followed China's example on 30 March and declared the

outbreak over.
Thailand also intimated that it was making splendid progress and would soon join the ranks of the
victors. As CP shares began to climb out of the gutter and the Thaksin regime lobbied Europe and Japan
to re-admit Thai chicken products, the attention of the international influenza community shifted to the
alarming H7 outbreak in British Columbia. Somehow, despite the cover-ups, official lies, and months of
lost ground, and despite the bungled culls and the gaping holes in the influenza surveillance network, the
great chicken slaughter nevertheless seemed to have turned the tide. The WHO's warnings about an im-
minent pandemic seemed less urgent, and the more optimistic, especially the politicians and exporters,
thought they had defeated H5N1. But alas, the virus had simply taken a brief vacation.

* An Internet lunatic fringe, American not Thai, maintains that both CP and Tyson are engaged in clandestine biowar-
fare against small-scale producers and that H5N1 may be their designer weapon. The impetus for this stupidity seems
to be both corporations' former support for ex-President Bill Clinton.