Bird flu scare

Two weeks ago, a Khmer friend told me in passing that 80 of his 100 chickens had died in the previous few days. He was only concerned with the loss of his chickens for food and income, and had very little interest in why the birds had died. Could it have been bird flu? I asked. Well, he said, yes maybe....

Naturally I was very anxious so I reported my concerns to the authorities even though he did not want this. Staff from the Department of Agriculture went to his house and took a chicken away for analysis. I was promised that I would be informed of the outcome. I’m still waiting to hear, and as I’ve waited so long, am assuming that my worst fears weren’t realised....