Bird Flu Fight: 160,000 Turkeys Gassed and Burned in Britain

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Bird Flu Fight: 160,000 Turkeys Gassed and Burned in Britain
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/bird-flu-fight-160000-turkeys-gassed-burned-in-britain/
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Yes, it?s the A(H5N1) strain. That?s what British authorities confirmed over the weekend, in determining just what sort of bird flu had infected thousands of turkeys in the eastern town of Lowestoft.
The confirmation was crucial because while there are lots of strains of influenza in birds ? and a few that can be passed from birds to humans ? the A(H5N1) strain is the one that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ?has caused the largest number of detected cases of severe disease and death in humans.?
About 2,500 turkeys had died of the virus already, and authorities in Britain were busy today culling 160,000 turkeys, in an effort to halt the spread of the disease. Reuters reported this morning that the outbreak comes after ?a relative lull in cases? in European poultry since hundreds of turkeys were infected and died in France last year.
The current outbreak is the biggest yet in Britain. From Reuters:

The birds were being gassed and incinerated after the discovery of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian flu on a farm at Holton in eastern England run by Europe?s largest turkey producer, Bernard Matthews.
The slaughter of turkeys at the farm started late on Saturday with the dead birds being transported in sealed trucks to be incinerated. The cull is expected to end later today.
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Patricia Hewitt, Britain?s Health Secretary, told Reuters yesterday that the government was preparing ?very, very seriously? for the remote risk of a flu pandemic.

Smoke rises from an incineration plant in eastern Britain, where 160,000 turkeys potentially exposed to bird flu are being destroyed. (Photo: Reuters)
Indeed, it?s worth noting that ?remote? is still the operative word here. Despite the potential threat posed by the A(H5N1) strain ? and its demonstrated potency when infections in humans do occur ? the disease still remains relatively rare.
From the CDC:

Of the human cases associated with the ongoing H5N1 outbreaks in poultry and wild birds in Asia and parts of Europe, the Near East and Africa, more than half of those people reported infected with the virus have died. Most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults and have resulted from direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces. In general, H5N1 remains a very rare disease in people. The H5N1 virus does not infect humans easily, and if a person is infected, it is very difficult for the virus to spread to another person.
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That passage from human to human has occurred, though, according to the agency:

While there has been some human-to-human spread of H5N1, it has been limited, inefficient and unsustained. For example, in 2004 in Thailand, probable human-to-human spread in a family resulting from prolonged and very close contact between an ill child and her mother was reported. Most recently, in June 2006, WHO (the World Health Organization) reported evidence of human-to-human spread in Indonesia. In this situation, 8 people in one family were infected. The first family member is thought to have become ill through contact with infected poultry. This person then infected six family members. One of those six people (a child) then infected another family member (his father). No further spread outside of the exposed family was documented or suspected.
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Of course, as the destruction of 160,000 turkeys in Britain demonstrates, heading off every potential human infection is crucial in preventing the virus form mutating into something that does spread easily. As the World Health Organization puts it:

A second risk, of even greater concern, is that the virus ?- if given enough opportunities ?- will change into a form that is highly infectious for humans and spreads easily from person to person. Such a change could mark the start of a global outbreak (a pandemic).
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The A(H5N1) strain has, according to Reuters, ?killed at least 165 people worldwide since 2003, most of them in Asia, and more than 200 million birds have died from it, or been killed to prevent its spread.?
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Re: Bird Flu Fight: 160,000 Turkeys Gassed and Burned in Britain

British bird flu source remains mystery as cull ends
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/news/article_1256096.php/British_bird_flu_source_remains_mystery_as_cull_ends
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London - The mass cull of more than 150,000 turkeys on a British poultry farm hit by an outbreak of lethal bird flu was completed late Monday as the hunt for the source of the infection continued.

The Agriculture Ministry in London confirmed the end of the mass gassing of the birds Monday evening, and said it was confident that the first major outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus strain in Britain could be contained.

'The experience of the last year or so in the rest of Europe is that the measures that we have here - and they are the same in every European Union country - have been sufficient to stamp out and contain outbreaks in a single area,' Ben Bradshaw, state secretary in the Agriculture Ministry said.

EU veterinary experts are due to discuss the outbreak in Britain on Tuesday.

Bradshaw rejected suggestions that there had been unnecessary delays in reporting the outbreak last Friday, saying that everyone involved had 'moved as quickly as possible.'

Experts were Monday still trying to determine the source of the outbreak on the farm of Bernard Matthews at Holton, in the county of Suffolk, one of the biggest in Europe.

Meanwhile, the Guardian newspaper reported that the British outbreak could be linked to a recent H5N1 outbreak in geese in Hungary.

Hungary was 'such a distance away' that, at this point, all possible sources had to be investigated, Bradshaw said.

Government experts have confirmed that the virus identified in Britain was the same strain found last month in Hungary.

However, Matthews told the paper that the two operations were connected only in terms of ownership.

'All our birds are British. The fact that we have a Hungarian operation is immaterial. It is very unlikely. It's a complete mystery to us. We have the highest bio-safety standards of anyone,' he said.

A 3-kilometre protection zone was set up around the farm, near Lowestoft, and a 10-kilometre surveillance zone is also in place.

But those security measures were being widely broken, with chickens ranging freely inside the protection zone, according to BBC correspondents covering the story.

Over the past three days, more than 150,000 turkeys were killed on the farm, and their carcasses were transported in sealed lorries to a rendering plant in Staffordshire, central England, for incineration.

The outbreak could come as a massive financial blow to Matthews, whose turkey-exporting empire has grown into a worldwide operation with an estimated annual turnover of 400 million pounds (785 million dollars).

Matthews expanded into Hungary in 1993 and bought New Zealand lamb processor Advanced Foods in 1994.

Two years later, Matthews took over German firm Bernhard Bartsch, which specialized in cooked meats, and a year later it opened offices in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.

By 2004 the company employed more than 7,000 people worldwide, producing items ranging from Christmas birds to everyday food.

It now produces 13 million turkeys worldwide with operations concentrated in Suffolk.

Japan and Russia have temporarily halted imports from the farm.

? 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur​

 

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Re: Bird Flu Fight: 160,000 Turkeys Gassed and Burned in Britain

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Bird flu expert's answers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6329419.stm#capture
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO -->Virus expert Professor John Oxford answers your questions about the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk.



<!-- S IANC --><!-- E IANC --><!-- S ILIN -->How did the turkeys catch this virus?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->What if my cat captures an infected bird?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->If the birds are kept indoors, how can they get bird flu?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Do the birds really need to be culled?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Does keeping birds in unnatural surroundings lower their immune system?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Will the turkeys be culled humanely?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Which wild birds are most likely to be carrying the virus?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->I heard cooking kills the virus, what about pre-cooked meat?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Why are the carcasses being moved to Staffordshire?
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Why are we reassured this incident is safe when there were so many scare stories last time?

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HOW DID THE TURKEYS CATCH THIS VIRUS?
Ann Mudd, Salisbury


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Professor John Oxford, virologist, London Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry: It has most likely come from another infected bird.

We know that H5N1 is transmitted silently by migrating birds. The warm weather will have affected their migration patterns. So the chances are that is how it has reached Suffolk. <!-- S ILIN -->
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IF ONE OF OUR CATS CAPTURES AN INFECTED BIRD, WILL H5N1 TRANSFER TO THE CAT? AND WILL THERE BE A SUBSEQUENT RISK TO HUMANS?
Graham L, Chesterfield
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Professor Oxford: This has already happened in South East Asia, so the answer must be yes.

But the virus is extremely rare in Britain, so the chances are tiny.

I don't believe anyone living outside the containment zone need worry about their cats. If you're living less than a mile from the outbreak, you should be a bit more careful and maybe leave your cat outdoors, in case it has already eaten a bird.
Those living further away, if they are still worried, should consider keeping their cat inside until all this dies down.
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IF THE BIRDS ARE KEPT INDOORS, HOW DID THEY GET BIRD FLU? HOW CAN THE COMPANY ASSURE SAFETY?
Andrea, London



Professor Oxford: It's unlikely that a building could ever be 100% secure. A very small bird could have made it through the ventilation system, for instance.

But the standard of biosecurity must be very high on this site because the infection has been confined to one shed.
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WHY, IF THE BIRDS ARE IN AN ENCLOSED SHED, DO THEY NEED TO BE CULLED? WHY NOT LET THEM DIE? THIS COULD MEAN SOME BIRDS SURVIVING, MEANING THEY ARE IMMUNE TO THE VIRUS.
Ian Williams, Norwich



Professor Oxford: The problem with that is that it wouldn't work in practice. You can guarantee that 100% of the turkeys would die, and they would all die a horrible death.
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DO YOU THINK THAT KEEPING BIRDS IN UNNATURAL SURROUNDINGS LOWERS THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEMS?
Sarah Patrick, Reading, UK



Professor Oxford: I suspect it does. I'm not criticising these places but the birds won't be at their prime to resist diseases.
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I'M LOOKING FOR ONE SINGLE ARTICLE OR MENTION ON THE BBC WEBSITE ABOUT HOW HUMANE THE METHOD OF KILLING THESE TURKEYS IS, BUT CANNOT FIND ANY. SOME OF US CARE ABOUT THIS AS WELL AS THE EFFECT ON HUMANS.
Kitto, Geneva



Professor Oxford: It's very difficult to kill 100,000 turkeys, not least because you run the risk of getting infected yourself.

But people can be reassured that the birds will be treated much more humanely than those which were shown getting slaughtered by being thrown on fires in South East Asia. They will have to cull the turkeys as painlessly as possible.
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WHICH WILD BIRDS ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE CARRYING THE VIRUS?
April Showers



Professor Oxford: Wild migrating birds like geese, ducks and swans. <!-- S ILIN -->
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I HEARD COOKING KILLS THE VIRUS, WHAT ABOUT PRE-COOKED MEAT?
Anon



Professor Oxford: Pre-cooked meat will have been heated and that will have destroyed the virus. It is actually very fragile and easy to kill.
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GIVEN THE WARNING THAT THIS PARTICULAR STRAIN OF BIRD FLU IS HIGHLY PATHOGENIC, WHY WOULD DISEASED BIRDS BE MOVED TO STAFFORDSHIRE?
Sheila Branch, Ely



Professor Oxford: This has been a difficult series of decisions for Defra. The carcasses will have to be moved in steel containers which are totally secure.

I suspect this option was the best compromise. They will have thought about it very carefully.
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WHY IS IT THAT WHEN A LARGE COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE GETS HIT WITH THIS IT POSES LITTLE DANGER TO HUMANS, YET WHEN THE SCARE-MONGERING OVER BIRD FLU WAS AT ITS HEIGHT A YEAR AGO IT SEEMED A SINGLE INFECTED BIRD WAS ENOUGH TO WIPE OUT HALF THE POPULACE?
D. McNicholl, Tain



Professor Oxford: The dead swan in Fife was in a public place - anyone could have walked up to it. But the most recent case involved a secure site which only affects the people who work there. I don't believe last year's incident was overstated. It was a huge educational exercise: people know now that a dead swan is potentially dangerous.
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