Facing the grave danger of the deadly bird flu, Hong Kong Buddhists have got a problem with their religious practice of releasing live chickens to Nature. From AP via Washington Post:
When Hong Kong officials discovered that a scaly-breasted munia found dead on New Year’s Eve had tested positive for the H5 virus, they held a televised news conference to alert the public. A few days later, they said further tests showed the bird had the H5N1 strain.
The scaly-breasted munia is native to Hong Kong but is usually found in tussocks in rural areas, said Lew Young, a manager at the Chinese territory’s Mai Po bird sanctuary. The birds are commonly used in the Buddhist ceremonies, Young added. “They are usually transported to Hong Kong from the mainland in boxes. If one of the birds is sick, the rest are likely to be sick as well, since they are crammed in one box,” he said.
“Some of the followers do not feel comfortable getting in touch with birds since bird flu cases were reported. They were worried the birds might be infected,” said Winnie Lam, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Buddhist Cultural Association. Lam said the group used to free more than 1,000 birds at one time, but now releases hundreds of fish into the sea each month. [Full Text]
