Tourists feed pigeons at People's Square yesterday. The city is on high alert to avoid the potential threat of a bird flu outbreak. - Zhang Suoqing

Xu Fang/Shanghai Daily news

A growing number of local residents are complaining about neighbors who raise poultry or pigeons in their homes, saying they are worried about the spread of bird flu.
Wang qiguang, who lives in a residential community on Changzhong Road, said that one of his neighbors has been raising three chickens in his home for a month. He sets the chickens free every day so that they can take a walk.
"It is very risky as this is a prevalent season for bird flu," Wang said.
Song yufen, a resident in Zhabei District, said a man living on the top floor of his apartment building is raising a flock of pigeons that come from an unclear source.
Though the property management company has asked the man to stop raising the pigeons, he has simply ignored them.
Some residents are voicing their complaints to the media, while others are calling the city's hot line for agricultural science.
"It is necessary to adopt measures to eliminate chickens and ducks raised in the downtown area because it is banned by local regulations and it will spread diseases easily, not only the bird flu," said Wang Zhitong, an expert from the Shanghai Agritechnical Station.
Before anyone can raise pigeons at their home in the city, they must get approval from the Shanghai Homing Pigeon Association, and each of the birds must get vaccinations.
Shi xingzhong, deputy director of the Shanghai Agricultural Commission, said the government will discuss the situation and take measures to fix it soon.
While it is unsafe to raise birds at home, Wang said it is still safe to eat chickens and ducks.
"So far no cases of bird flu have been uncovered in the city and Shanghai is strict in controlling poultry coming in. It is very safe as long as you cook the meat properly because the virus will be killed by high temperatures," Shi said.
Veterinary experts said bird flu, which first appeared in Italy in 1878, is a major disease threatening the poultry breeding industry but isn't the only concern. There are more than 80 kinds of infectious diseases, verminosis and nutritional diseases that attack poultry.
Now 135 types of bird flu have been found. Among them, the H5 and H7 types are spread most quickly.
The type prevailing in the world now is H5N1, one of the most dangerous ones.