Pakistan is home to all sorts of crises, and a new one seems to come up every year to catch us unawares. Never mind the usual problems of crime, violence, lack of education, inadequate medical care, and crushing poverty: in the last two years the country has managed to come up with constitutional chaos, honor killings, Islamic fundamentalism, international terrorism, and the Karachi oil spill. However, the latest crisis to hit Pakistan is one that deserves special attention, if only for the terror that it strikes into the hearts, minds, and stomachs of the people: the bird flu, or avian influenza, that is sweeping across Asia and laying low its poultry like dead flies.
      According to the Pakistan Poultry Association, the bird flu has been attacking Pakistani chickens since November, but it was treated as a routine illness until about three million chickens got infected in December. Apparently something went very wrong in the poultry industry: the chickens were made to attend too many weddings while wearing chiffon outfits, and must have exposed themselves to the bitter cold of the wedding season. Or they weren’t careful enough to avoid the germs brought in by their cousins visiting from Cambodia, Thailand, and China over the Christmas vacation.
      Whatever the cause for the spread, it’s obvious that the poultry farmers have neglected to give their chickens adequate amounts of Vitamin C, which many swear is a miracle drug as far as boosting immunity goes. The chickens may also have been subject to extreme stress, lowering their resistance to infection, which is Next>