WITH bird ’flu making international headlines over the last few weeks, the general public, by their own admission, are receiving mixed messages about any possible danger they might be facing. With this in mind, the Cyprus Mail went out and about to find out what people in the street thinks about the scare.
Pambos Charalambous, a 48-year-old fruit packer from Latsia said, “I am a little worried as there has been so much about it on the news recently. I don’t have enough information on how you can catch bird ’flu therefore I’m not really sure if I should be more worried.
“I don’t even know if there are any precautions that I should take as the government has played down the threat to Cyprus, but has yet to explain the risks.”
Jenny Hughes, a 45-year-old Briton living on the island, wasn’t affected by the recent fuss. “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. If it happens it happens. We had a big SARS scare a while ago that never materialised.
“I will take precautions such as eating well and stocking up on natural therapies but I won’t go overboard and become paranoid. The government talks about taking precautions and all the necessary measures but there’s no way that they can guarantee that such a possible pandemic involving human to human transmission can’t break out here.”
However, the owner of a textile shop in downtown Nicosia thought it could pose a threat. Christalla Kattis said, “Of course I’m worried but I’m hoping that we will stop it reaching Cyprus. I have complete faith that the government will be able to control the situation. If there was a proven vaccination against it available, I would take it and would feel safer.”
Shoe store owner Andreas Makedonas said he wasn’t scared at the moment. “But if I suddenly found out that a country near Cyprus was affected, then I’m sure that I’d start worrying.”
He added that some Cypriots “could cause a problem by accepting chickens from the occupied areas, where there are few regulations and checks. But I will continue eating chicken and ate some last night, in fact.”
Aleka Efthymiou, who manages the Beauty Line Perfumery in Nicosia said she wasn’t scared “as I don’t think bird ’flu will make it to Cyprus”.
“What we are reading and hearing about recently is just the normal panic which breaks out whenever something like this is in the news.
“Given time, people will find something else to talk about.”
