When we spoke to him this evening he told us that BAHA may be jumping the gun by even announcing the discovery of this unconfirmed sample. Still, the situation has some gravity because the farmers are taking precautions and have already begun to de-populate the farm rather than risk wider exposure. The Poultry Association's Armando Cowo told us more:

Armando Cowo, Belize Poultry Association
"As far as I know yes, one sample has been tested positive, but that one sample has not been confirmed. What happens sometimes there are positives, but we need confirmation from another lab in the US called National Vet Services lab (NVSL). The NVSL has not confirmed the presence of AI in Belize, so I have no idea why BAHA sent out that release. It requires confirmation from a reference lab and that reference lab has not confirmed the presence of AI in Belize. Yes, we have a suspect case, but that has not been confirmed."

"I was there at a meeting where it was discussed that they needed to de-populate and the details of it was not given out in that meeting, so I really don't know the full details of how they are carrying it out. I know we have asked that if the population needs to be carried out, it be done in the best possible manner for the birds, yes. It can infect the whole area, a bigger, wider area than the farm and then we will have to be de-populating more and more birds and the more birds are de-populated, the less there will be to put on the tables of Belizeans. The Avian Flu, I don't know which strain, because only a vet would be able to tell you. I am not a vet. There are a couple strains that do infect humans, but we don't know if that is in Belize and even then, they have jumped from the birds to human in certain countries that have really large populations of birds, but the jump has been very small, like a person working de-populating 28 million birds got infected. That's very small, its negligible. You can't get it through consuming poultry products, because first of all you will cook it and second, if its low pathogenicity, then there is no risk. If its high pathogenicity, there is a little bit risk because that one the virus can be found in the tissues of the bird. There should be no panicking, no nothing. I really don't know what the press release from BAHA was trying to achieve."

And in their release tonight BAHA wished to allay the public's fears, saying quote: "BAHA reassures the public that poultry meat and eggs on the local market are safe for human consumption and will continue to implement the right safety protocols to ensure this continued safety." End quote.