Foul is still fare

Dr. Willie Willis of the Department of Animal Sciences made a guest appearance on WGHP (Fox 8) during the 10 o'clock news on Nov. 8 to discuss the possible bird flu pandemic that has become a focus of public concern. Willis was well positioned to answer the reporter's question about what the SAES is doing to keep the H5N1 strain of avian flu out of poultry flocks in the United States. He and Dr. Ipek Goktepe, an SAES food scientist, and Dr. M. J. Ibrahim, an Extension specialist, are conducting workshops for Extension personnel and small-scale poultry producers to cover safety precautions for keeping the bird flu out of North Carolina.

 

Although small poultry flocks are more vulnerable to the spread of bird flu than poultry produced in confinement facilities (where chances for contact with migratory birds are minimal), Willis' first message for producers and consumers alike at this point is not to overreact. "We should be concerned," he says, "but still, no case of bird flu has been found in the United States. And there's no evidence at this point that there is any danger in eating poultry that has been properly cooked." Willis is confident that poultry producers and research scientists around the globe are tackling the issue head on, and that there's no threat to public health in the United States on the immediate horizon.

 

Willis can be reached for more information on avian flu at (336) 334-7786, or willisw@ncat.edu. Here is a Web site he recommends for additional details.

Dr. Willlie Willis, center, talks to FOX 8 News reporter Julie Luck, right, at the Poultry Unit on the University Farm at North Carolina A& T State University during an interview the local station conducted on avian pandemic concerns. LaKennya Davis, a senior animal science student from Lagrange, NC, assisted Dr. Willis in a clothing demonstration.

Posted November 9, 2005 04:02 PM

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