UK: Hungary Import Link?

[cartski]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Compare the Guardian article above with this BBC article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6344335.stm
Some discrepancies need resolving.
jt

Wow, great find, Dr. T.

I would nominate the Guardian article in the dramatic developments category.

"But wildlife experts were privately delighted by the way that the Government was scrutinising the poultry industry. "

Yeah, I should say so. This link feels plausible. A lone bird down a ventilation shaft vs. 37 tons of "partially processed" fowl each week, even during the Hungarian cull.

What's next? Rodents positive. Cats positive. Dogs? Horses?

Look for a company whistleblower interviewed by the press.

J.

 

[HenryN]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

U.K. Bird Flu Outbreak Spreads Within Farm; Hungary Link Probed

By Marthe Fourcade and Bill Murray
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. bird flu outbreak that began in one shed of a Suffolk farm last weekend has now spread to three other sheds, the government said.
All turkeys that tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu were culled, the U.K. Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement on its Web site.
The government's investigation found that the virus at the farm, owned by Bernard Matthews Holdings Ltd., Europe's largest poultry producer, is similar to one identified in a recent outbreak in Hungary, according to the statement.
``Our investigations have shown that one possible route of infection is poultry product imported from Hungary,'' the U.K.'s Deputy Chief Veterinarian Fred Landeg said late yesterday. ``It is important that this is investigated thoroughly, along with all the other possible routes.'' The U.K. is liaising with the Hungarian authorities and the European Commission, Landeg said.
Global disease trackers including the World Health Organization in Geneva are monitoring the spread of H5N1 in case the virus mutates to become more infectious in people, sparking a pandemic.
``No panic is justified,'' Markos Kyprianou, the European Union Commissioner on Health and Consumer Protection, said at a briefing in Athens yesterday. ``Hungary and the U.K. have taken appropriate measures. The conditions that would allow the disease to spread to humans don't exist in the EU.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Marthe Fourcade in Paris at mfourcade@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 9, 2007 02:25 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aOt5lXL9vwMQ&refer=uk

 

[HenryN]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02090701/H5N1_England_Spread.html

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02090701/H5N1_England_Spread.html

Commentary

Qinghai H5N1 Spread in Suffolk England
Recombinomics Commentary
February 9, 2007

Bird flu was found last night to have spread through the Bernard Matthews complex in Suffolk, scotching a government theory that a single wild bird had infected the flock. Diseased turkeys were identified in three more of the sheds and the H5N1 strain of the flu was also linked to the company's processing plant from which meat is sent all over Britain.

Last night both the government and the company conceded that a consignment of partially processed turkey meat from the Bernard Matthews' plant in Hungary had been sent to Suffolk and was now at the centre of the investigations into the origins of the outbreak. It is believed that this meat could have become infected during a series of H5N1 outbreaks in the south of the country after Christmas.

The above comments describe the spread of H5N1 to three additional sheds on the turkey farm in Suffolk. These data indicate the biosecurity at the farm is not as effective as indicated in early reports, which indicated the H5N1 was limited to the shed where approximately one third of the turkeys died, and just under two thirds of the remaining turkeys had symptoms.

Various media reports have given a range of comments regarding H5N1 in the adjacent processing plant, including the trucking of poultry from Hungary to the processing plant adjacent to the farm. Although the Hungarian processing plant owned by Bernard Mathews is 150 miles from the H5N1 outbreak in geese at farms in southeast Hungary, movement of turkeys and chickens in Hungary to that plant remains unclear.

Sequence comparisons between H5N1 in England and Hungary have been described as closely relate as well as identical. Since all reported HPAI H5N1 in Europe has been the Qinghai strain, which is transmitted and transported by wild birds, a close relationship between 2007 sequences in Hungary and England was expected. Release of sequences from both locations would allow for an independent analysis of the relatedness between H5N1 in Hungary and England.

Similarly, H5N1 testing at processing plants in Hungary and England would help resolve the origin of the H5N1 at the turkey farm. The increasing number of countries reporting H5N1 this year indicates H5N1 is widespread in Europe, as was reported last year. Inn many countries, the H5N1 has only been detected in wild birds and the H5N1 have regional markers. In addition to Hungary, H5N1 has recently been reported in Krasnodar, Afghanistan, and Egypt. In Turkey, poultry deaths have been linked to bird flu, which is expected to be Qinghai H5N1 also.

Further testing of products in processing plants in Hungary and England, as well as release of H5N1 sequences from outbreaks in 2006 and 2007 in Europe would be useful.


.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Bird flu probe 'like jigsaw puzzle'


[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Press Association [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Friday February 9, 2007 8:43 AM[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Experts may never be able to identify the cause of the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk for certain and are likely to be investigating for weeks rather than days, Defra has said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The department's deputy chief veterinary officer Fred Landeg described the investigation into the outbreak at the Bernard Matthews plant in Holton as "like a jigsaw puzzle".[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Experts may never get all the pieces to the puzzle and might have to draw a conclusion on the "balance of probabilities", Mr Landeg told the BBC. But he conceded the evidence suggests the virus may have travelled from Hungary in meat product rather than entering the farm on a wild bird as initially thought.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Environment Secretary David Miliband and a Bernard Matthews spokesman had previously ruled out any link between the Hungarian outbreak and the virus reaching Suffolk.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Mr Landeg said: "What we are in the middle of is a very complex epidemiological study, it is rather like a jigsaw puzzle. We are putting it together. We may not get all the pieces and we may have to come to some conclusion on the balance of probabilities."[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]He went on: "However, as we put that evidence together, it appears that the virus from Hungary may well be identical to the Norfolk strain and that suggests the virus was carried here directly, possibly in meat product, rather than wild birds at this stage but we are still keeping an open mind."[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Other transmission routes are still possible but Defra is "focusing" on the movement of product from Hungary at the moment, Mr Landeg added. He also said biosecurity at the plant was "reasonable" but there can "sometimes be failures or possibly some faults" in the buildings on such large premises.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Mr Landeg also told GMTV that the virus had "probably come directly from Hungary to the UK" rather than via migratory birds. Evidence given to Defra on Thursday and advice from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency indicated the virus in Holton was almost identical to the Hungary virus, he said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]It was claimed on Thursday night that a consignment of dead turkeys from a Bernard Matthews-owned plant in Hungary could be the source of the outbreak. The Observer said the consignment, which had been partly processed, was brought by lorry to the UK, arriving a few days before January 27, when the first signs of illness were spotted in turkey chicks at the farm.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The Government has known about the contaminated meat since Monday but did not tell the public, the paper claimed. But Mr Landeg has denied a Government cover-up, telling Sky News: "We have not sat on the information."[/FONT]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6403336,00.html

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif].[/FONT]

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

It will be interesting to follow this investigation along its entire chain. Were there biosecurity breaches along the transportation route from Hungary? e.g., were the lorries adequately sealed during their 156 mile drive?

.

 

[Molimo]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

This route of enquiry doesn't make logical sense IMHO.

Is there H5N1 in the Bernard Matthews Farm in Hungary?

If no, then there is no link... is there?

If there is H5N1, why hasn't it been reported by now?

If there is how did it manage to cross the whole country of Hungary from the farm with declare H5N1 infection?

If there is H%N! in the birds imported from Hungary how did dead birds get into the multiple sheds to spread the virus?

When we are told it's the same virus, what does that mean? How identical is the same?

Cynically speaking:

By drawing an elaborate conclusion that H5N1 came from Hungary, then with this cull, there is no longer H5N1 in the UK. Therefore, UK Poultry is safe. Therefore, it is ok to buy UK Poultry. Therefore lift the National bans on UK Poultry as the UK is officially H5N! free!!!!!


Lets look at the scoreboard

H5N1 cases in UK = 2 Vs Admission of H5N1 circulating in the UK 0

To early to predict a trend, but.....

Infected wild birds getting into the unsealed sheds full of food vs dead birds carrying the virus into those same sheds (even 36 tonnes a week)

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Welcome Molimo.

Anything is possible - wild birds, direct contamination, foci contamination, transfer contamination, etc.

It is recommended to dispose of carcasses infected with H5N1 on site in a pit. Transportation to a "dump" exposes the virus to the environs through which the transport takes place.

I would like everyone to consider how you will feel when HPAI H5N1 comes to your cities or counties. We need to be as accurate as possible. It becomes quite personal when this disease "hits home".

 

[Anne]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Bird flu outbreak spreads on Suffolk farm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,2009371,00.html

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif] John Vidal, Jo Revill and Dan Bell
Friday February 9, 2007
The Guardian [/FONT][FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif][/FONT]

The government was forced to concede last night that the bird flu outbreak was more widespread than previously thought after more turkeys at the Bernard Matthews plant in Suffolk were found to be contaminated with H5N1 and the company admitted that birds had arrived in the UK from the Hungarian plant hit by the same virus last month. The infection is being linked to the Suffolk processing plant from which the company transports meat across Britain. <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> <!-- /* set the domain in anticipation of the ad*/ if(setDomainForAds) { setDomainForAds(); }; //--> </script>
Article continues

<hr class="mpu"> <iframe title="Advertisement" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/html.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&spacedesc=mpu&site=Guardian&navsection=1699&section=112338&country=fra&rand=0805040" frameborder="0" height="250" scrolling="no" width="300"> <a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&amp;spacedesc=mpu&amp;site=Guardian&amp;navsection=1699&amp;section=112338&amp;country=fra&amp;rand=0805040"> <img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&amp;spacedesc=mpu&amp;site=Guardian&amp;navsection=1699&amp;section=112338&amp;country=fra&amp;rand=0805040" width="300" height="250" border="0" alt="Advertisement"></a> </iframe>
<hr class="mpu">
The Observer reported on its website last night that a consignment of partially processed turkeys had travelled from Bernard Matthews' Hungarian plant and arrived in the UK a few days before January 27, when farmworkers began to notice signs of illness in the turkey chicks in one shed of the farm near Holton, Suffolk. The discovery of the virus in another three of the 22 sheds in Suffolk crushed hopes that the infection had been isolated. It also questioned the integrity of the plant's bio-security.The government denied suggestions that it had sought to cover up the possibility of infection from Hungary. A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said last night: "There is no delay [in informing the public]. We are making information available as it comes to light."
She said Defra thought the birds had come from an uninfected part of Hungary, but that test results had changed that view: "The test results revealed that the strain ... might be identical."
The shadow environment secretary, Peter Ainsworth, questioned the government's previous suggestion that the virus had been spread by wild birds. "It always seemed unlikely that avian flu arrived in Suffolk via the wild bird population, since there has to date been no evidence of infected wild birds," he said.
"Bernard Matthews now have some very serious questions to answer about their bio-security arrangements and the version of events they have told so far."
Yesterday a spokesman for the company said: "We are cooperating fully and as a precautionary measure we have volunteered to cease any movements to and from Hungary."
The investigation is now expected to centre on the Suffolk processing plant, which is near the turkey sheds, and on the company's farm in Hungary.



there is a processing plant near the farm

<!--Article is not commented: 0 -->

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

UK farm says turkey came from outside Hungary bird flu zone

Friday, February 9, 2007 12:55:00 PM

The British poultry company hit by an outbreak of avian influenza denied on Friday it had broken rules by importing meat from parts of Hungary that were off limits because of an outbreak there.
<BANNER>
British officials said on Thursday they believed Hungary was probably the source of the infection in British turkeys, after initially saying the two outbreaks were unrelated.

?As we're putting evidence together, it appears that the virus from Hungary may well be identical to the strain and that suggest that the virus was carried here directly - possibly in meat products - rather than wild birds but we still keep an open mind," Britain's deputy chief veterinarian Fred Landeg told BBC on Friday.

The virus may have been brought to Britain from Hungary in turkey meat, or by contaminated vehicles or possibly personnel, he added.

?What we're in the middle of is a very complex epidemiological study. It's rather like a jigsaw puzzle...we're putting pieces together," Landeg said. ?We may not get all the pieces... but we may have to come to some conclusion on the balance of probabilities."

Bernard Matthews, which owns the British farm where 160,000 turkeys were slaughtered after 2,500 turkeys were killed by the virus, has said it has suspended imports of about 37 tonnes per week of partly processed poultry from Hungary. The company's plant where it processes Hungarian import meat is close its sheds in Holton, Suffolk, where the first UK outbreak of H5N1 was discovered last week.

The company's commercial director, Bart Dalla Mura, said none of that meat came from areas sealed off during January's Hungarian outbreak. Hungary culled some 13,000 geese that were suspected of carrying the virus. A number of countries, including Croatia, Russia and Bulgaria, put a ban on Hungarian poultry imports.

"The material we imported - we made all our checks - came from nowhere near the restricted region," he told BBC radio.

"There had been no influenza in (Hungarian) turkey, there's no restrictions on bringing turkey from Hungary and our paperwork is absolutely secure that says that was the case."

He told BBC earlier that the company did transport meat but it did not move live birds between Hungary and the UK.

"If we had any concerns about our Hungarian operation we would say so - as we did at Holton. We operate with as much rigour in Hungary as we do in the UK," he added.

The cull of turkeys on Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk, eastern England, where the H5N1 strain of bird flu broke out, was completed on Monday.

Russia and Japan have banned British poultry imports.

The Hungarian unit of Bernard Matthews is S?Ga Foods Zrt.

http://www.portfolio.hu/en/cikkek.tdp?cCheck=1&k=2&i=11020

.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

"Russia and Japan have banned British poultry imports."

This means jobs. In countries where there have been HPAI H5N1 oubreaks the industry has been decimated.

From the World Bank:

"...The economic costs of HPAI outbreaks in Asia have been limited at the macro-economic level but very high for specific sectors and communities. The costs so far incurred are mostly related to the death of poultry from the disease itself, the culling of poultry to stem its spread, and the costs to governments of containing the epidemic in terms of equipment, materials, transport and personnel. Ten Asian countries have had some sort of outbreak of HPAI, with around 140 million birds estimated to have been culled in the region as a whole. The direct economic costs of the outbreaks have been estimated at more than US$10 billion.

In Vietnam, one of the most seriously affected countries, some 44 million birds or 17 percent of the total population of poultry, were culled at an estimated cost of US$120 million (0.3 percent of GDP). The costs would have been substantially higher if there had been a serious impact on tourism, where an estimated 5 percent drop in tourist and business arrivals would reduce GDP by a further 0.4 percent. Fortunately, there has been only a small impact on tourism so far; the number of tourist arrivals in Vietnam increased by 20.5 percent in 2004 and rose further by 23 percent in the first seven months of 2005. Overall real GDP growth in Vietnam accelerated to 7.7 percent in 2004.​

Although the overall macro-economic effects have been relatively small, the impact on the poultry sector and on associated input and distribution channels has been severe. An FAO survey indicates that in the most seriously affected parts of Indonesia more than 20 percent of permanent industrial and commercial farm workers lost their jobs. The FAO-OIE estimate that between one-third and a half of the populations in the most affected South East Asian nations derive at least some of their income from poultry production. In Vietnam, the poorest 60 percent of the population earn 6-7 percent of household income from this source and have been particularly at risk in terms of income losses."​

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXT...004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:503048,00.html​

 

[mostlylurking]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Chickens just love to eat feathers. Free range backyard chickens do it all the time. Chickens will also cheerfully eat a wounded bloody chicken. First they peck it to death of course. They don't see it as repulsive at all. Here's a quote you may find interesting about where chicken feed is headed.



To help offset costs, poultry companies are looking for ways to grow bigger chickens with less feed.

Enter BioResource.

A lot of animal food is made from byproducts of foods sold to humans. Usually, those byproducts are very hard to digest, said Jim Garlich, a retired professor from N.C. State University's poultry science department and a consultant to BioResource. Garlich said that Versazyme helps to make most animal feed 80 percent to 90 percent digestible. This means that chicken growers could spend less on feed, but get the same nutritional benefits.

Valkerase, which allows the feathers to be turned into feed, is also a cheaper alternative to using corn. The market for it is particularly good overseas, where animal feed is even more expensive than in the United States.
source:http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/531030.html

 

[MHSC]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

If you research the topic, animal waste of all kinds are routinely fed to animals.
http://ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/sustainable_food/they-eat-what.html

Animal byproducts are also a part of domestic pet food, and it doesn't stop with dead farm animals, road kill and euthanized pets are also included.

 

[susieM]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Roadkill moose in Alaska is transformed (by prisoners) into hamburger and given to the foodbank.

 

[prepdeb]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Sad as it is ... roadkill moose is probably healthier and safer to consume than much of our commercially raised meats.

Before I started watching the pandemic threat, I niavely assumed that the meat I purchase for meals was raised (or fed) as our grandparents fed their livestock. Boy, was I wrong!
Major food companies have found ingenius ways to turn waste products into profit. So instead of incurring expenses to dispose of waste, they feed it back to animals raised for consumption or market it in various products.

We are gradually becoming vegetarian because of what I've learned about the industry. I recently read the book Mad Cowboy and that sealed the decision to phase animal flesh products out of our diet.
IMO, financial greed has worked overtime the past few decades and corrupted nearly all of our food supply.

Of course none of this could have occurred if lawmakers didn't concede to the greed of big business. Buyer beware.

Sorry for the rant - the corruption of our food supply is a sore subject for me.

 

[Daisy]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Well said, Prep Deb. Couldn't agree with you more! :applause:

 

[wetDirt]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

snip
...Versazyme helps to make most animal feed 80 percent to 90 percent digestible. This means that chicken growers could spend less on feed, but get the same nutritional benefits.

Valkerase, which allows the feathers to be turned into feed, is also a cheaper alternative to using corn...

snip

A quick rummage produced the following:

http://www.cababstractsplus.org/cab...Menu=relatedItems&ReviewID=24270&SubjectID=74

Keratinase technology: from feather degradation and feed additive, to prion destruction
J.C.H.Shih,J.J.Wang
[History] Received: 1 September 2006, Accepted: 2 October 2006
CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 2006, 1, No. 42, 6 pp.
October 2006

[PDF (97.1kb)]

A bio-process called thermophilic anaerobic digestion that converts poultry waste into biogas energy was developed in our laboratory. During operation, feathers in the waste were completely degraded. This observation prompted a series of studies that have led to new technology and commercial developments. A feather-degrading bacterium was discovered and isolated. An enzyme called keratinase capable of hydrolysing the feather protein keratin was purified. The gene encoding this enzyme was isolated and sequenced. Genetic modification enabled the over expression of the gene in the parent strain as well as in other Bacillus strains. Scale-up fermentation, first in 150 l and then in 50 kl fermentors, made the mass production of the enzyme possible. Subsequently, in application research, keratinase was shown to partially hydrolyse feathers and convert them into a digestible feed protein. When supplemented as a feed additive on standard diet, the enzyme promoted chicken growth by improving dietary protein digestibility. If commercially developed, keratinase can lower feed cost, increase poultry meat yield, and upgrade the utilization of less digestible protein feedstuffs. From an environmental point of view, keratinase has the potential to reduce waste nitrogen excretion by farm animals. More recently, keratinase was found to be able to degrade prion protein that is believed to cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) including ?mad cow disease?, sheep scrapie, deer chronic wasting disease and human Creutzfeldt?Jakob disease. This discovery indicated the potential use of keratinase in a new enzymatic process to destroy prion protein and possibly prevent TSE, in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner. To test and to develop the enzymatic process, a prion-like surrogate protein (PSP) has been developed as a safe bio-marker. The combination of keratinase and PSP can provide a useful toolbox for TSE prevention. Based on the keratinase platform technology and its applications, BioResource International (BRI), a biotechnology company, was founded to serve the poultry and animal industries.

A related article indicates that keratinases can also be used to take the hair off cowhides, replacing a very stinky and toxic chemical.

I imagine keratinases would be of great interest to poultry manufacturers for both nutritional and BSE-related reasons.

 

[hawkeye]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

All the reason to support your local livestock / farmers and team together with family members to purchase livestock and have it butchered.
just my 2cents

Sad as it is ... roadkill moose is probably healthier and safer to consume than much of our commercially raised meats.

Before I started watching the pandemic threat, I niavely assumed that the meat I purchase for meals was raised (or fed) as our grandparents fed their livestock. Boy, was I wrong!
Major food companies have found ingenius ways to turn waste products into profit. So instead of incurring expenses to dispose of waste, they feed it back to animals raised for consumption or market it in various products.

We are gradually becoming vegetarian because of what I've learned about the industry. I recently read the book Mad Cowboy and that sealed the decision to phase animal flesh products out of our diet.
IMO, financial greed has worked overtime the past few decades and corrupted nearly all of our food supply.

Of course none of this could have occurred if lawmakers didn't concede to the greed of big business. Buyer beware.

Sorry for the rant - the corruption of our food supply is a sore subject for me.

 

[susieM]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

The recall may be about to begin

http://www.thisishampshire.net/news...9594.0.supermarkets_face_products_recall.php?

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: UK: Hungary Import Link?

Roadkill moose in Alaska is transformed (by prisoners) into hamburger and given to the foodbank.

Roadkill moose is not a waste product. Moose is some of the healthiest meat you can eat. The "roadkill list" is routinely used as a meat source for people willing to show up at an accident and butcher the moose. Sometimes part of the carcass is unusable due to the accident.

The Alaska Railroad is required to delived their "traintrack killed" moose to the nearest road location for pickup by people on the roadkill list.

One of our USDA meat processing facilities is staffed by prisoners and should some roadkill moose be doanted, I cannot imagine an single Alaskan not anxious to receive the mooseburger.

I'll gladly eat moosemeat before commercially raised meat anyday.

.