Over the years of her independence, Singapore has been impacted by many external events, which are defined as events that come from outside Singapore. An example of these external events is epidemics. One such epidemic is bird flu, also known as avian influenza or H1N5. In the pictorial source shown, we can see people burying many dead chickens. These chickens have been killed to prevent the spread of bird flu, an infection that occurs naturally in birds and spread through saliva, faeces and other excretions. Humans too, can contract bird flu through contact with infected birds or humans. Symptoms of bird flu include fever, sore throat, cough and headache,etc. Bird flu was a much feared disease as once contracted by a human, it can develop into pneumonia, respiratory diseases and brain and heart inflammation.
2003 saw the first bird flu outbreak in Asia. It originated from Hong Kong and spread to Europe in 2005, infecting and killing both poultry and humans. A large amount of poultry was killed to limit the spread of H1N5, as seen from the many dead fowls in the source. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) made a decision to suspend the import of poulty from infected countries, including Malaysia, USA, Canada, China and the Netherlands. For a period of time during the bird flu epidemic, Singaporeans had limited access to poultry products and our poultry supplies had to be sustained with Singapore's own frozen supplies. These factors also led to an increase in poultry prices.
In conclusion, Singapore was affected by bird flu to a moderate extent as no Singaporean fell ill due to bird flu. However, for those who ate or came into contact with fowls regularly, their usual diet and lifestyle were forced to change as a result of bird flu.
No comments:
Post a Comment