February 3, 2007

development in investigation of avian flu outbreak in Suffolk

These comments follow the discovery that the avian flu virus responsible for the outbreak in turkeys in Suffolk was the H5N1 strain.

Dr Azra Ghani, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said:

“This outbreak is clearly of concern to the poultry industry. Prompt isolation of the infected farm and culling of all birds at the farm, as is currently underway, is the most important intervention in limiting the scope of the outbreak. Work will also be underway to determine the source of infection as well as to identify other poultry farms that have had contact with the infected farm. Because the poultry industry operates on a national scale, it is important that these additional contact farms are also isolated to minimise the chance of infection spreading more widely. Further culling of birds should only be necessary if infection is confirmed at other farms. The high biosecurity in this sector of the poultry industry and prompt notification of suspected infection should ensure that the outbreak is rapidly contained.”

David Catlow, President of the British Veterinary Association, said:

“The Defra contingency has been instigated quickly and efficiently and we hope this outbreak contained rapidly. It is H5N1 and there is now in place a 3 Km protection zone and 10 Km surveillance zone from the premises. All poultry must be housed and all poultry movements are banned within these zones. There is no affect to the safety of poultry meat – there is no extra risk to eating poultry. All poultry keepers should step up their own biosecurity and vigilance for any sign of disease in their birds.”

Dr Colin Butter, Avian flu expert, Institute of Animal Health, said:

“There is no need for immediate concern but we do need to identify the source of the virus i.e. if the virus has come from the wild bird population we need to know which birds and how much of the population has been affected.

“This outbreak, in this shed in East Anglia, is no risk to the general public and will be controlled by culling. The risk to public health is from a Human pandemic which is not likely to originate in Europe. A pandemic of this type, if it does happen, is likely to occur in an area where people live side by side with birds, like in East Asia. So there is no immediate public health risk, but this is clearly something we need to get under control.”