Are we safe from bird flu?

Avian flu is normally a common disease of low strength which does not cause any significant problems to poultry or human health. However, from time to time, higher pathogenic strains emerge that can kill large numbers of birds and pose a threat to people working closely with poultry. At present, the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian flu has the potential to cause widespread damage to the poultry industry and I am pressing the Government to ensure that plans are in place to deal with this disease, if or when it reaches our shores.

The H5N1 strain of avian flu is transmitted between birds through saliva, nasal secretions and faeces, picked up by direct contact or from surfaces contaminated with these materials. The virus can also be transmitted from birds to people in close contact with domestic flocks that may come into contact with the transmitters. However, H5N1 is not capable of being transmitted easily from human to human, and is not causing a human flu pandemic risk.

There is a concern that in the future the H5N1 strain of avian flu may mutate further to a form that can be passed from human to human, and may be highly infectious and dangerous to human health. Mutation of the strain to a form transmitted between humans is more likely to happen if a large number of people catch the virus from their flocks of birds. Therefore, to safeguard human health, efforts need to be focused on preventing the spread of avian flu among wild and domestic birds, to reduce the risks of bird to human transmission of the virus.

The H5N1 avian flu strain originated in south-east Asia, where it has become widespread in wild and domestic bird populations. From there it has spread across central and northern Asia to mainland Europe, carried by the migration of wild birds. Migrating waterfowl spread the disease westwards from central Asia in the autumn and winter of 2005-2006 during the annual migration to warmer wintering grounds. This migration is now over, and east to west movements of wild birds into Europe will not take place until next autumn. In April this year a wild swan washed ashore in Scotland was found to have died from the disease but seems to have caught avian flu abroad. Wild bird populations in Britain have been extensively monitored by organisations such as the RSPB, and the disease has definitely not entered the British wildfowl population yet. The arrival of wild birds from the south during this spring is not going to bring avian flu to Britain, as it is not present in these birds’ wintering territories in Africa and southern Europe. The soonest that the H5N1 strain of bird flu may arrive in Britain via wild bird migration is in the autumn 2006, and I am focusing my campaign on making sure that we are prepared for it by then. The recent outbreak of the H7 strain of avian flu in Norfolk is unconnected to H5N1, is much less virulent and is not a significant threat to human health. However, H7 is still a threat to poultry and it is important to act quickly to stop this disease spreading.

Avian flu could be brought to Britain by legal or illegal imports of birds. I am pressuring the Government to ensure that quarantine facilities are adequate, and that birds that die in quarantine have their cause of death rapidly and correctly identified. The EU has prohibited the importation of wild birds, and I am working to make sure that this ban stays in place.

In the situation that the H5N1 avian flu does reach Britain it is essential that lessons from the foot and mouth crisis of 2001 have been learnt and that the problems in response to the epidemic have been properly addressed. During the foot and mouth epidemic there were serious problems with the speed of identification of the disease, numbers of vets available to inspect farms, speed of disinfection, the application of culling policies, and the disposal of culled animal carcasses. Adequate planning is critical to the response to an avian flu outbreak, and I am seeking to ensure that the Government have formulated a planned response to an outbreak, based on models of the spread of the disease. Also, the bio-security of poultry farms is of fundamental importance to preventing the spread of disease, and I have questioned the Government about the state of bio-security on farms and the information that they have issued to farmers and small-scale poultry owners.

An outbreak of avian flu would require a cull of infected birds to prevent the spread of the disease. I have put pressure on the Government to ensure that there will be adequate facilities for the safe disposal of bird carcasses by burial and rendering, and if the use of commercial landfill becomes necessary that it will not pose a risk to human health or the spread of the disease. Additionally, I have questioned the Government about their compensation arrangements for farmers whose poultry flocks are affected by avian influenza.

I am also working to ensure that there are enough vets and support staff to be able to deal with large numbers of infections, and that vets are given adequate training to be able to correctly identify avian flu.

Publish date: 27th January 2006
Modified: 10th May 2006

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