Sally Furniss
Well-known member
Wednesday, February 15, 2006 8:04 a.m. ET
By David Evans
PARIS (Reuters) - European governments ordered farmers to lock up their chickens on Wednesday after the deadly bird flu virus was found in two new countries on the continent, dealing another blow to battered poultry sales.
Germany and Austria are the latest EU countries to report the discovery of dead swans infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, that has spread from Asia to Africa and killed 91 people and led to the destruction of millions of birds.
The World Animal Health Organization (OIE) says the cases themselves do not necessarily mean the disease, which is highly contagious among poultry, has spread to domestic flocks, and this is where governments should now concentrate their efforts.
"Little can be done about the migratory patterns of wild birds, therefore we emphasize the importance of minimising the opportunity for domestic birds to come into contact with wild birds," a spokeswoman for the OIE said.
German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer said authorities would now focus on preventing any transmission to livestock.
He brought forward a ban on keeping poultry out of doors to February 17 from March 1.
Seehofer said the ban would take immediate effect on Wednesday in the rural northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the infected swans were found.
In Austria, the Health Ministry said it had created a restricted zone within a 2-mile radius of where the dead swans were found, in the Styria region bordering Slovenia.
All poultry trade has been banned in the area for at least 30 days. Monitoring for signs of bird flu will be carried out within a further 6-mile radius, and poultry bought and sold only with ministry permits.
In the entire area, farmers will have to confine their poultry stock to barns. Poultry markets and shows, and hunting for wild fowl, have been banned, the ministry said.
SCANDINAVIAN ALERT
The latest European cases follow the discovery at the weekend of the virus in Italy and Greece, putting governments as far north as Stockholm and Oslo on alert.
Sweden has ordered farmers to keep chickens and turkeys indoors, reinstating restrictions that were issued in the autumn and Norway has imposed a similar ban and stepped up its checks.
The Netherlands, home to Europe's most densely-populated poultry flock, may also bring its ban forward soon.
In France, the national food safety agency warned the government on Tuesday of an increased risk from migratory fowl.
The farm ministry is expected on Wednesday to extend its ban on keeping poultry outside to the whole of France.
The Slovenian Veterinary Administration has ordered the confinement of all poultry in the country and authorities have told people to stay away from wild birds.
And the Swiss government on Wednesday ordered a nationwide poultry lock-up from February 20.
In Italy, police impounded more than 80,000 chickens and 7,000 eggs from farms in the south of the country as part of a major crackdown on health norms.
SALES PLUNGE
The new cases have had a dramatic effect on Europe's 20-billion-euro ($23.82 billion) poultry sector.
Sales in Italy have plunged more than 50 percent since the weekend, the farm union Coldiretti said, while others have estimated losses to the sector of one billion euros.
In France, sales are down by 15 percent after recovering around Christmas, although they have held up in the UK, where 90 percent of poultry reared for meat is kept inside anyway.
There are fears that in Germany, where turnover is around two billion euros, consumers may start to shun chicken too.
"Poultry sales are currently 10 to 15 percent below normal levels but we attribute this more to reports about several meat hygiene scandals not to bird flu," said Thomas Janning, a spokesman for the German poultry industry association ZDG.
"Naturally we are concerned that consumers will react to the reports of bird flu in the two wild swans."
In neighbouring Poland, poultry producers said they were getting increasingly worried.
"The probability of bird flu knocking on our door is rising. If it happens, our exports will be hit," said Leszek Kawski of the country's poultry association.
(Reporting by Reuters European bureaux)
Copyright ? 2006 Reuters Limited. This story and its comments expire 30 days after original publication date.
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1158777
By David Evans
PARIS (Reuters) - European governments ordered farmers to lock up their chickens on Wednesday after the deadly bird flu virus was found in two new countries on the continent, dealing another blow to battered poultry sales.
Germany and Austria are the latest EU countries to report the discovery of dead swans infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, that has spread from Asia to Africa and killed 91 people and led to the destruction of millions of birds.
The World Animal Health Organization (OIE) says the cases themselves do not necessarily mean the disease, which is highly contagious among poultry, has spread to domestic flocks, and this is where governments should now concentrate their efforts.
"Little can be done about the migratory patterns of wild birds, therefore we emphasize the importance of minimising the opportunity for domestic birds to come into contact with wild birds," a spokeswoman for the OIE said.
German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer said authorities would now focus on preventing any transmission to livestock.
He brought forward a ban on keeping poultry out of doors to February 17 from March 1.
Seehofer said the ban would take immediate effect on Wednesday in the rural northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the infected swans were found.
In Austria, the Health Ministry said it had created a restricted zone within a 2-mile radius of where the dead swans were found, in the Styria region bordering Slovenia.
All poultry trade has been banned in the area for at least 30 days. Monitoring for signs of bird flu will be carried out within a further 6-mile radius, and poultry bought and sold only with ministry permits.
In the entire area, farmers will have to confine their poultry stock to barns. Poultry markets and shows, and hunting for wild fowl, have been banned, the ministry said.
SCANDINAVIAN ALERT
The latest European cases follow the discovery at the weekend of the virus in Italy and Greece, putting governments as far north as Stockholm and Oslo on alert.
Sweden has ordered farmers to keep chickens and turkeys indoors, reinstating restrictions that were issued in the autumn and Norway has imposed a similar ban and stepped up its checks.
The Netherlands, home to Europe's most densely-populated poultry flock, may also bring its ban forward soon.
In France, the national food safety agency warned the government on Tuesday of an increased risk from migratory fowl.
The farm ministry is expected on Wednesday to extend its ban on keeping poultry outside to the whole of France.
The Slovenian Veterinary Administration has ordered the confinement of all poultry in the country and authorities have told people to stay away from wild birds.
And the Swiss government on Wednesday ordered a nationwide poultry lock-up from February 20.
In Italy, police impounded more than 80,000 chickens and 7,000 eggs from farms in the south of the country as part of a major crackdown on health norms.
SALES PLUNGE
The new cases have had a dramatic effect on Europe's 20-billion-euro ($23.82 billion) poultry sector.
Sales in Italy have plunged more than 50 percent since the weekend, the farm union Coldiretti said, while others have estimated losses to the sector of one billion euros.
In France, sales are down by 15 percent after recovering around Christmas, although they have held up in the UK, where 90 percent of poultry reared for meat is kept inside anyway.
There are fears that in Germany, where turnover is around two billion euros, consumers may start to shun chicken too.
"Poultry sales are currently 10 to 15 percent below normal levels but we attribute this more to reports about several meat hygiene scandals not to bird flu," said Thomas Janning, a spokesman for the German poultry industry association ZDG.
"Naturally we are concerned that consumers will react to the reports of bird flu in the two wild swans."
In neighbouring Poland, poultry producers said they were getting increasingly worried.
"The probability of bird flu knocking on our door is rising. If it happens, our exports will be hit," said Leszek Kawski of the country's poultry association.
(Reporting by Reuters European bureaux)
Copyright ? 2006 Reuters Limited. This story and its comments expire 30 days after original publication date.
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1158777