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Avian flu defense can enlist poultry workers

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Avian flu defense can enlist poultry workers

By STUART APPELBAUM, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It seems that every week Americans learn of another outbreak of avian

flu. There is no way of knowing when the disease will come to our

shores, but when it does, the consequences for Georgia could be

devastating.

Should avian flu mutate into a disease that spreads from person to

person, state health officials warn that as many as 1.14 million

Georgians could become clinically ill and more than 6,000 could die.

Some of the first victims could be the women and men who earn their

living raising, catching and processing live poultry in Georgia's

immense poultry industry. It does not have to be that way.

Instead of becoming the first victims of a flu pandemic, poultry

workers could join the ranks of the first responders battling to

contain it.

To its credit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has

been helping officials in Georgia and other states prepare for avian

flu. As early as February 2004, CDC was offering guidance and

recommendations to agencies charged with eradicating outbreaks among

poultry. However, despite the fact that one poultry worker may come

into direct contact with literally thousands of birds each day, there

has been little effort to mobilize America's 200,000 poultry workers

to help combat avian flu. Here are some ways they can:

• Poultry workers must be trained to immediately identify infected

birds in order to isolate and destroy them. But it cannot stop there.

Workers also need " whistleblower " protections so they can report

infected birds to authorities without risk of reprisal from their

employers.

The fear of reprisal is a particular problem for the many

undocumented workers hired by poultry companies. In July, immigrant

workers in North Carolina gathered to attend what they thought was a

training program offered by the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration. Instead it was a sting operation by the Department of

Homeland Security to nab undocumented workers.

Against this backdrop, federal officials must decide whether the

rewards of capturing undocumented poultry workers is worth the damage

it could cause to our nation's health. The choice should not be

difficult.

• From safety goggles to disposable particulate respirators to

protective clothing, poultry workers need the personal protective

gear necessary to avoid infection. However, absent a legal

requirement, many poultry companies refuse to provide much of this

equipment to workers. They must be compelled to do so.

• Poultry workers must have ready access to vaccines and anti-viral

medications as they become available. It makes little sense to

immediately vaccinate physicians who will treat infections and not

poultry workers.

• Ideally, a poultry worker who is infected would be able to visit a

physician and, if necessary, stay away from work as long as

necessary. However, many poultry workers earn low wages and receive

no health insurance benefits. Absent financial support, they have no

means to care for their families or themselves. Faced with this

prospect, some may believe they have no choice but to deny their

illness in order to keep their paychecks.

There is precedence for the federal government providing a degree of

compensation to companies that need to isolate and destroy infected

poultry.

Every Georgia family has an important stake in the fight against

avian flu. In addition to the devastating impact it could have on the

health of Georgia families, it would also be a staggering blow to an

industry that now contributes more than $13 billion every year to the

state's economy.

Here in Georgia, and other poultry-producing states, America's

200,000 poultry workers ought to become part of our nation's first

line of defense against avian flu. The only question is whether

President Bush and other elected officials are ready to offer the

leadership to see that they are.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/1205/28edchickens.html

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