Lock them up to die - prison bird flu plan

"Some prisoners would be set free, but the most dangerous would be locked away and left to take their chances and the dead buried in mass graves if an Asian bird flu epidemic hits New Zealand's jails.

"Government planning documents reveal that low-security prisoners would be released, but the most dangerous prisoners would be left at the mercy of the killer disease.

"Entire prisons would be sealed - nobody would be allowed in or out for up to six weeks - and mass graves would be dug in prison compounds to dispose of bodies.

"The proposals, details of which were obtained by the Sunday Star-Times, are part of Corrections Department contingency plans to deal with an Asian bird flu pandemic hitting New Zealand and its 7500 prison population.

"Three Turkish siblings died last week from the flu - the first human deaths from the disease outside China and South-east Asia. There have been 152 cases of the disease in humans, resulting in 75 deaths."
Manawatu Standard

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Tagged: pandemic, bird+flu, influenza, avian+flu