Birds migrating from Africa 'could bring H5N1 to UK by spring'
LOUISE GRAY
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=204432006
BIRD flu could spread to Britain by the spring, experts warned last night after the first case was detected in Africa.
Some 46,000 birds were killed after the H5N1 strain, which has killed more than 70 people worldwide, was discovered at a poultry farm in the north of Nigeria. The farm lies close to the migratory route of small birds wintering in Africa before flying to Europe in the spring.
Ornithologists said that although it was unlikely such small birds could carry the virus far, finding H5N1 in Africa increased the risk of wild birds bringing it to Britain.
Dr Paul Walton, the species and habitats officer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, said small birds such as swallows, martins, warblers, wheatears and others that winter in Africa would return to Britain in April.
"There is a migration in spring from Africa into Europe and Britain of birds that breed here and then winter down in Africa," he said. "There is a slightly increased risk wild birds will bring H5N1 into Britain, although it is a theoretical risk. It was low and now it is slightly higher."
Dr Walton said the outbreak in Nigeria was quite far inland, so migrating birds were unlikely to come into direct contact, but if it spread to bird populations on the country's coast, it could infect birds which travel to Britain.
He said: "Potentially, it is significant because there is to be a big migration, but there are factors which counter the risk."
For example, he said, the small birds were likely to die before they could carry the virus far.
H5N1 can jump from birds to humans. Although it has not yet jumped from human to human, it is thought the more the virus spreads, the greater will be the opportunity for it to mutate into a strain that could kill millions in a global pandemic.
Dr Walton said the emphasis should remain on preventing the spread of the virus among birds. He said H5N1 had spread mainly by movement of poultry across the world, and he called for an end to the trade in exotic wild species
He said the latest outbreak was probably through poultry movement, as the area was not on any migratory routes already affected by bird flu.
Dr Walton said the latest outbreak was "bad news" for Africa, where many people live close to their animals and public health services are weak.
The Nigerian outbreak, on a farm in Jaji, in the northern state of Kaduna, was first reported by the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health. The agriculture minister, Adamu Bello, confirmed bird flu had been detected in samples taken on 16 January from birds on the farm. An Italian laboratory then identified it as the H5N1 strain.
Related topic
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=204432006
Last updated: 09-Feb-06 01:08 GMT
LOUISE GRAY
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=204432006
BIRD flu could spread to Britain by the spring, experts warned last night after the first case was detected in Africa.
Some 46,000 birds were killed after the H5N1 strain, which has killed more than 70 people worldwide, was discovered at a poultry farm in the north of Nigeria. The farm lies close to the migratory route of small birds wintering in Africa before flying to Europe in the spring.
Ornithologists said that although it was unlikely such small birds could carry the virus far, finding H5N1 in Africa increased the risk of wild birds bringing it to Britain.
Dr Paul Walton, the species and habitats officer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, said small birds such as swallows, martins, warblers, wheatears and others that winter in Africa would return to Britain in April.
"There is a migration in spring from Africa into Europe and Britain of birds that breed here and then winter down in Africa," he said. "There is a slightly increased risk wild birds will bring H5N1 into Britain, although it is a theoretical risk. It was low and now it is slightly higher."
Dr Walton said the outbreak in Nigeria was quite far inland, so migrating birds were unlikely to come into direct contact, but if it spread to bird populations on the country's coast, it could infect birds which travel to Britain.
He said: "Potentially, it is significant because there is to be a big migration, but there are factors which counter the risk."
For example, he said, the small birds were likely to die before they could carry the virus far.
H5N1 can jump from birds to humans. Although it has not yet jumped from human to human, it is thought the more the virus spreads, the greater will be the opportunity for it to mutate into a strain that could kill millions in a global pandemic.
Dr Walton said the emphasis should remain on preventing the spread of the virus among birds. He said H5N1 had spread mainly by movement of poultry across the world, and he called for an end to the trade in exotic wild species
He said the latest outbreak was probably through poultry movement, as the area was not on any migratory routes already affected by bird flu.
Dr Walton said the latest outbreak was "bad news" for Africa, where many people live close to their animals and public health services are weak.
The Nigerian outbreak, on a farm in Jaji, in the northern state of Kaduna, was first reported by the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health. The agriculture minister, Adamu Bello, confirmed bird flu had been detected in samples taken on 16 January from birds on the farm. An Italian laboratory then identified it as the H5N1 strain.
Related topic
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=204432006
Last updated: 09-Feb-06 01:08 GMT
