# 2578
As I roamed the newsfeeds this morning I was struck by this picture which appears in The Jakarta Post, of workers inspecting chicks supposedly for bird flu in India.
CASTAWAY CHICKS
The Associated Press , India | Sun, 12/21/2008 5:01 PM | World
Workers inspect chickens suspected of carrying the bird flu virus in Gauhati, India, on Sunday. India has contained several previous outbreaks of the virus, including in West Bengal in January, where authorities slaughtered around 4 million birds. (AP/Anupam Nath)
Now, all we have to go on is a picture, and the caption. But a couple of questions immediately come to mind.
First, if these workers are looking for infected chickens, why are they not wearing any protective gear?
No gloves, no mask. Nothing.
Second, a visual inspection isn't a terribly reliable way to tell if a chicken is infected with the H5N1 virus. I'm unsure what they think they are accomplishing, unless they are simply counting chickens about to be culled.
Still, you'd think in Gauhati, the capital of Assam, India they could give these `inspectors' a pair of gloves.
