Europe is preparing for more cases of the lethal strain of bird flu as the spring migration season approaches and new species, possibly already infected, arrive from Africa, the EU's health chief said on Thursday.
BRUSSELS — Europe is preparing for more cases of the lethal strain of bird flu as the spring migration season approaches and new species, possibly already infected, arrive from Africa, the EU's health chief said on Thursday.
With suspected outbreaks of the virulent H5N1 strain cropping up almost daily, the EU's executive arm was ready to combat a heightened risk to domestic poultry, EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said.
EU countries have yet to confirm any case of H5N1 outside wild birds -- although earlier on Thursday, France reported a possible case at a turkey farm in the east of the country.
But things could get worse from next month, experts say.
Several species of migratory waterbirds are known to fly to West Africa from Europe and the Black Sea regions in the autumn and return in the opposite direction in the spring. For most species, that migration will take place in March and April.
"It's a concern, because now we have the virus in Africa. Spring migration of birds coming from the south to Europe poses a risk," Kyprianou told Reuters in an interview.
The EU has put in place a series of preventive measures for early detection and containment of bird flu, especially the H5N1 strain. These include culling of birds within an inner high-risk zone around the infection, surrounded by two other zones -- one for surveillance and one as a buffer against non-infected areas.
"What could happen now, given the different species coming from the south, is that maybe other areas will be added to the list of risk areas so more areas will be covered by these measures -- for example, keeping birds indoors," Kyprianou said.
"We'll be adjusting legislation so that the measures will be there, according to the new migration season and to the species that will be coming from the south," he said.
Bird conservationists say some of the higher risk bird species migrate from European breeding grounds to wintering grounds in Nigeria, where H5N1 was confirmed earlier this month.
Experts fear that in Africa, where chickens live in millions of homes, the virus could spread rapidly and largely undetected due to a scarcity of health, veterinary and laboratory services.
From northern Nigeria, most species migrate directly across the Sahara and then across the central Mediterranean. Others take a more easterly route through the Middle East, and it is likely that some take a westerly route through Iberia.
"VACCINATED" MEAT SAFE
Renewing his call for Europeans to carry on eating poultry meat despite the recent outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu, Kyprianou said there was no reason to fear or shun meat coming from vaccinated poultry since it posed no risk to human health.
France and the Netherlands, the bloc's two largest poultry producers, won EU approval this week to vaccinate some of their poultry against bird flu -- under very strict conditions.
Even so, consumer confidence in poultry meat has been knocked in many EU countries as shoppers shun what they view as "contaminated" meat. This fear was unfounded, Kyprianou said, adding that vaccination did not affect the safety of meat.
Italy has complained of a 70 percent slump in sales in under one week, while France says its sales have fallen by 30 percent since the crisis began in November. "We cannot exclude the possibility of having H5N1 in domestic poultry, in farm birds or in backyard farms. That's why we have all the decisions in place and the possibility for immediate reaction," Kyprianou said.
"Maybe we'll get more (cases) in future. But there's no reason to panic," he said. "We have all the tests and measures in place to make sure that poultry meat or products from these animals never enter the food chain."
Source: Reuters
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