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| The dead parrot? |
| Dr. J.H.J. Peet |
| Published 17 January 2006 |
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On how bird flu relates to the goodness of God
There have been expressions of concern about the progress of Avian Influenza (H5N1) from Eastern Asia to Europe in recent months.
A parrot has famously died in quarantine in Britain. Though the progress has been slowed by preventive measures, it could lie dormant through the winter and suddenly affect us in the coming year. Migratory waterfowl are the natural reservoir for the virus, but domestic poultry are especially susceptible to epidemics. It can be transmitted between farms by mechanical means. Stringent sanitary measures can reduce the risk of infection.
Concerns are not only of it affecting our poultry, but the possibility of it crossing the genetic barrier and affecting humans. This is effected by a mixing and reassortment of genes (‘antigenetic shift’) in the host. In this situation, there can be a genetic exchange between the avian and human influenza viruses, making the avian form more accessible to humans.
Underlying question?
But there is another underlying problem for the Bible believer. It is aptly summed up in the title of a talk by the Australian creationist, John Mackay: ‘Did a good God make bad bugs?’ The problem is obviously far wider than that presented by the ‘bird flu’.
It is generally assumed that viruses are of themselves bad and so questions arise as to their origin. Viruses are parasitic but for a beneficial reason. They carry genetic material which can be transferred to cellular life such as bacteria, so helping them adapt to a new or changed environment. The virus has been described as a ‘remarkable mechanism for the exchange of genetic material’. B. Holmes said: ‘Viruses have shaped the entire structure of the ecosystem’.
Keeping a balance
They also depend on the host cell to duplicate the genetic material, so they have no reason to kill the cell! They control bacterial growth and can be used as a treatment for bacterial diseases. By their action, they can aid survival of bacteria (again, bacteria are not of themselves bad: we depend on good bacteria) and maintaining ecological balance.
There has been a lot of publicity about the MRSA bug. It has become clear that the cause of its spread has been poor hygiene, but one way of treatment may be to use a bacteriophage (one form of virus) to attack the bacterium. Viruses are an ideal means of transporting healthy genes to ‘infect’ damaged cells in gene therapy. One scientist, S. Morse, wrote of harmful viruses, ‘[Through humans] disrupting the established ecological order, people inadvertently encouraged the adaptation of a “weed” species that more often than not brought them fever and misery.’
Good viruses can become bad by mutation of the viral gene or by that of the host preventing its normal function. It can move across barriers between genera as a result of bad environmental management by man, that is, a failure to heed the creation mandate to care for God’s creation.
We pray that the avian influenza virus may be stopped from further spread by the preventative measures recommended by the World Health Organisation.
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© Evangelicals Now
This column is used with permission. |
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