Minister says UK prepared to face bird flu
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Britain’s farm and environment minister Margaret Beckett said on Monday that the country is well prepared to react swiftly to any outbreak of deadly bird flu.
The spread of the killer H5N1 virus across Europe to France took centre stage at this week’s National Farmers’ Union annual conference, more than doubling media attendance from last year.
Both NFU president Tim Bennett and Beckett warned that the poultry sector could be destroyed by media “scaremongering” about the disease.
“You must report the facts, but you could destroy the British poultry industry by scaremongering,” Bennett warned reporters.
“Remember: eating chicken meat and eggs, cooked properly, is safe, and is incidentally good for you.”
The bird flu virus has spread from Asia to Africa and Europe and caused the deaths of millions of birds and more than 90 people.
It reached France earlier this month amid criticism that the British government had not done more to tackle the threat, and demands for chicken either to be kept indoors or vaccinated.
Britain has questioned the benefits of vaccination and Beckett reiterated on Monday fears that vaccines might mask rather than eradicate the disease, although she said the government’s policy was “under review.”
“We are very conscious it is a changing situation,” she told reporters.
Earlier on Monday, Bennett had warned that a loss of consumer confidence posed a bigger threat to the poultry sector than the virus itself.
“That (a loss of consumer confidence) is what will kill the poultry industry. It will not be avian influenza,” Bennett told reporters at a pre-conference briefing.
Poultry sales in Britain have not yet been seriously impacted by the spread of the disease, in contrast to countries such as France and Italy where sales have fallen sharply.
Bennett said he was due to meet Beckett later on Monday to discuss the spread of the virus, adding that poultry keepers had been “running at a very high alert for the last four months.”
He said decisions on whether to vaccinate poultry against the virus should be based on science, and that if scientists recommended such a policy then Britain must ensure it has sufficient supplies.
“We will follow the Government’s scientific advice, reserving of course the right to cross-question it, but on scientific grounds. If that means vaccinating, we will vaccinate,” he told delegates during his conference address.
France and the Netherlands are in the process of vaccinating some birds against the virus.
David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government, said the risk of the virus reaching Britain this year was “more likely than it was in December,” adding that even if there was a case in the wild bird population it did not mean that it would reach the poultry sector.
He noted that the recent incident of a whale swimming up the Thames River in London indicated that animals do not always follow anticipated routes.
“It is quite possible therefore that a wild bird might end up in the UK not following a migratory pattern,” he said.
King added that he believed the right procedures had been put in place to tackle the disease.
Farmers also expressed concern at the conference that a reduction in poultry demand in France linked to the virus had led to increased shipments to Britain and depressed prices on the wholesale market.
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