We're in the perfect place to bury our heads in the sand: there's plenty of it around. And it looks like we're doing just that as today's scorching news sensation Gulf News brings us a story on how smaller grocers in the UAE are now operating an 'egg-booking system' because the massive culls in Saudi Arabia, the country next door to us, have hit imports of eggs and not only an acute shortage but also a steep rise in the price of eggs of anything from 50-100%.
So we're worrying about the morning's omelette while Avian Flu, the HN51 virus, is flaring up all around us. Saudi Arabia has destroyed 13,500 ostriches following culls of tens of thousands of chickens. In Pakistan a man has died of the disease which is also present in India. In Indonesia, the disease has claimed its 93rd victim: with GN reporting that 115 people have been infected, that's an impressive mortality rate.
So you'd perhaps think that we'd be worrying about what measures are being taken to enforce quarantine, track or manage the migration of wild birds, protect the UAE's small but thriving chicken and duck farms and deal with the potential requirement for early diagnosis and emergency care for anybody suffering from this alarming disease.
But no. We're worring about where the next tray of eggs is coming from...
2 comments:
Well here in the US all we get to hear about is who might win the presidential nomination in the two parties. That and the constant shootings across the country.
(I'm anon as blogger only gives me that choice) MizBonnie
Well, i don't know if you remember, but about 3 or 4 years ago, in a 70s style protectionist behavior, GCC trade council decided to block all imports of Eggs from any non GCC nations - primarily Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
It was around the same time that SUDDENLY, that major poultry companies in KSA, OMAN and UAE turned around from small farms into multi-billion dollar operations and spending millions on ads.
Now that’s once messy scramble they got themselves into …
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