Pig cull considered amid bird flu threat
Matt Weaver
Monday February 13, 2006
Pigs in the UK may have to be culled if there is an outbreak of avian flu in an attempt to stop the disease spreading to humans, the government revealed today.
A new government plan, setting out powers to control the disease, said pigs could play a role in allowing avian flu virus to mutate and infect humans.
It said there is a small risk that pigs act as "mixing vessels" when they are infected with both avian and human flus, which create a deadly strain of the disease that easily spreads between humans.
Under a European directive on dealing with the disease, the movement of pigs is to be restricted on farms where an avian flu outbreak has been detected.
A paper published by the Department of the Environment, Food and Regional Affairs, which sets out the regulations, said pigs as well as chickens may have to slaughtered on such farms.
The paper, which focuses on the possible costs of the regulations, said: "Movement restrictions and possible slaughter of the pigs could impose additional costs on a farm in the event that it suffered an outbreak (or suspected outbreak) of avian influenza."
It added there are more than 4,000 farms in the UK with both pigs and chickens.
The UK's plans go further than EU directive by giving the UK the power to close footpaths in a 3km exclusion zone around detected outbreaks. Such protection zones may be extended if the risk is justified, the paper said.
The government would also have the power to ban bird gatherings such as pigeon races and falconry events. The new power comes after a temporary Europe-wide ban on such events was lifted in the UK in December, following lobbying from pigeon fanciers.
The paper said controlling the spread of the disease among birds using existing vaccines was ineffective, as well as slow and costly. But it said vaccines would be used to protect rare or endangered birds in zoos and in wildlife sanctuaries.
In any cull farmers will be paid compensation for the slaughter of healthy poultry. The payout for a culled broiler chicken is ?1.23.
The UK's poultry industry is one of the largest in Europe, with over 180m chickens.
Over the weekend it was confirmed that a deadly strain of avian flu had reached Italy. People in Rome are being urged not to touch dead or sick birds after fowl infected with the deadly H5N1 strain were found.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1708986,00.html
Matt Weaver
Monday February 13, 2006
Pigs in the UK may have to be culled if there is an outbreak of avian flu in an attempt to stop the disease spreading to humans, the government revealed today.
A new government plan, setting out powers to control the disease, said pigs could play a role in allowing avian flu virus to mutate and infect humans.
It said there is a small risk that pigs act as "mixing vessels" when they are infected with both avian and human flus, which create a deadly strain of the disease that easily spreads between humans.
Under a European directive on dealing with the disease, the movement of pigs is to be restricted on farms where an avian flu outbreak has been detected.
A paper published by the Department of the Environment, Food and Regional Affairs, which sets out the regulations, said pigs as well as chickens may have to slaughtered on such farms.
The paper, which focuses on the possible costs of the regulations, said: "Movement restrictions and possible slaughter of the pigs could impose additional costs on a farm in the event that it suffered an outbreak (or suspected outbreak) of avian influenza."
It added there are more than 4,000 farms in the UK with both pigs and chickens.
The UK's plans go further than EU directive by giving the UK the power to close footpaths in a 3km exclusion zone around detected outbreaks. Such protection zones may be extended if the risk is justified, the paper said.
The government would also have the power to ban bird gatherings such as pigeon races and falconry events. The new power comes after a temporary Europe-wide ban on such events was lifted in the UK in December, following lobbying from pigeon fanciers.
The paper said controlling the spread of the disease among birds using existing vaccines was ineffective, as well as slow and costly. But it said vaccines would be used to protect rare or endangered birds in zoos and in wildlife sanctuaries.
In any cull farmers will be paid compensation for the slaughter of healthy poultry. The payout for a culled broiler chicken is ?1.23.
The UK's poultry industry is one of the largest in Europe, with over 180m chickens.
Over the weekend it was confirmed that a deadly strain of avian flu had reached Italy. People in Rome are being urged not to touch dead or sick birds after fowl infected with the deadly H5N1 strain were found.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1708986,00.html