February 4, 2007

continuing news of H5N1 avian flu outbreak in Suffolk

Professor Jim Robertson, Principal Scientist in Virology, NIBSC, said:

“At the moment in the UK the general public still have more chance of winning the lottery than getting bird flu.”

Nigel Horrox, Veterinary Surgeon and President of the British Veterinary Poultry Association, said:

“At this point in time this looks like an isolated outbreak. There have been a few isolated outbreaks in Europe that have been successfully controlled and have remained on one farm. We look forward to Defra stamping out this outbreak in the same successful way.

“There are absolutely no implications for food safety. All food for purchase in the UK is 110 percent safe. What is more, the human cases we have seen from this virus were not as a result of eating contaminated poultry meat or eggs. Instead they came from people who had prolonged contact with sick birds. For example the cases in Asia where people shared the same airspace as infected birds.”

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

“Defra is doing everything they can at the moment to control this outbreak. The veterinary and scientific community were anticipating this to happen and had prepared accordingly. However, we will have to live with the threat of this disease in the coming years.

“In other EU countries they have had outbreaks but managed to control them successfully.

“It is important to stress that there are no problems with food supply and poultry is absolutely safe to eat.”