Our Man in Hanoi
One man's view on Avian Flu in Vietnam

Editor's Note: Our Man in Hanoi, Steve, is a volunteer worker who lives in and loves Vietnam. Though his new adoptive home is considered the hardest hit by Avian Flu, he has a different side to the story, as well as other yarns to spin. Read on.

The Chicken Race
Wednesday, October 12, 2005

One of the joys of not living in the United Kingdom anymore is missing out on media frenzies.

Last time I was home a certain U.K. royal son had been spotted wearing a Nazi uniform. Shocking? Undoubtedly? Worth two weeks of front page hysterics? Of course not.

Anyway, it now seems odd to peek at what's going on back there. Kate Moss in cocaine use shock! Is anyone really surprised by this? Please, just let it go.

Of course, here in Vietnam the very opposite is the case. Where do you go to avoid reading endless stories about Chicken/Avian Flu? Vietnam of course - the country, thus far most effected.

As ex-pats here though what we are getting is a string of instructions from our embassies. Voluntary Service Overseas is also looking after us and keeping us informed. They're coughing up for a flu jab (it won't stop the chicken variety but if we get the jab and still get flu symptoms then it might be time to panic). We have also received little boxes of Tamiflu - to combat Avian if it becomes a reality.

Meanwhile, try as I might I can't find a single media source or commentator that will tell me the likelihood of a epidemic caused by the nightmare scenario of human-to-human spread of the disease.

Between the panic of the western media (MILLIONS WILL DIE!) and the Vietnamese media which largely ignores the issue - I cannot find a middle ground with sensible suggestions.

And it worries me.

It worries me because if there is the slightest whisper of human-to-human spread of this disease - we'll see the great chicken race out of Vietnam. Because the aim, as I see it, will be for embassies to get all the ex-pats and tourists home before borders are closed to us and we are quarantined.

Will they wait around for scientific testing? Possibly not.

Meanwhile for organizations like KOTO losing the tourist buck will cost us a great deal. The same goes for every business and every employee in the tourist industry.

Fair enough, if the pandemic becomes a genuine reality then all measures necessary should be taken. But let's not scare ourselves into the chicken race.

I would hate to become part of the media overload on this. So, for the record, if you're planning to visit Vietnam, then please come. In a country that loves to gossip and everybody knows everyone else's business - I am yet to even hear of a brother's friends, sister's mum's maid's cousin twice removed coming down with Avian. Not one case. Not even a rumor.

Right now - in the absence of anyone who is willing to state on record the likelihood of a pandemic - Vietnam is still way too good to miss.

Oh and KOTO's Indian Chicken Masala is still one of Hanoi's greatest meals.

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10/12/2005: The Chicken Race

11/29/2005: Chicken lick'n (The sky is falling in!)