Avian Flu - a sense of foreboding
- From: "Pat Gardiner" <patgardiner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 18:36:05 +0000 (UTC)
Pat's Note: This report, and TV tonight, fills me with a deep sense of
foreboding.
It is not whether the right response is to keep the birds in or to allow
them out that bothers me.
The Dutch may be right or they may be over reacting, but for sure, we all
have to get the decision right.
I have nothing useful to contribute.
It is the idea that Britain's bent vets are handling a potentially serious
risk to human health that frightens the life out of me.
My wife and I have had the experience of being threatened, in our own home,
by probably the most influential vet currently involved in the decision
making process, merely because we reported a subordinate of his to Maff and
Parliament, for threatening behaviour and blood test faking during the 2000
swine fever epidemic.
It was all hushed up, of course.
Personally, I think this man is exceptionally dangerous and I know that
colleagues of his, in a position to know what he was up to, share some of my
opinions.
I obviously can't name them, but one his collegues has told me that they
were shocked at what happened here in 2000.
My concern is that Defra will be making decisions based on their need to
keep their jobs and out of prison rather than the country's need to prevent
a human health epidemic.
I expect Mrs P and I will be silenced any time now....in the national
interest...naturally.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/55fe2e1e-1334-11da-beee-00000e2511c8.html
EU nations split on response to threat of bird flu
By Sarah Laitner in Brussels and Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: August 22 2005 18:53 | Last updated: August 22 2005 18:53
European Union countries are split over the best way to respond to the
threat of a bird flu pandemic.
The Netherlands yesterday ordered farmers to keep poultry inside to
prevent bird flu spreading into the country.
However, the UK played down the threat posed to domestic fowl from
migratory birds. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said
it was not planning any measures to keep poultry indoors.
The split will become even more apparent when veterinary experts from
the 25 member states meet on Thursday to discuss the outbreak of the disease
which was discovered in Siberia last month.
The tough Dutch measures came as Germany was also considering stepping
up efforts to avoid infection by the disease, which can kill humans and
wreck poultry industries. The discovery of the H5N1 virus in Siberia has
triggered concerns that the lethal strain that has killed more than 60
people in south-east Asia could travel across the Urals into Europe,
infecting humans and hitting poultry production.
While most of its 80m poultry are kept indoors, the Netherlands is
concerned an outbreak among its 5.5m free-range birds could ravage the rest
of the industry.
Fears of the disease arriving in birds migrating from Russia are
particularly high in the country because it was badly hit by an outbreak of
bird flu in 2003.
The spread of the virus two years ago among its nearly 2,000 poultry
farmers led to the slaughter of 30m animals at a cost of hundreds of
millions of euros.
"Poultry farmers are very afraid that this strain will arrive in
western Europe. In 2003 many farmers were hit hard by what happened and it
took a lot of time for them to get going again. Nobody wants this to happen
ever again," said Klass Johan Osinga, of the LTO Dutch farmers' union.
The Netherlands last year exported almost ?500m worth of eggs, making
it the seventh largest producer among the EU's then 15 countries. In 2003 it
produced nearly 600,000 tonnes of poultry meat.
Dutch farmers will continue to label the produce from the 5.5m birds
as free range and organic until told otherwise by the European Commission,
Mr Osinga said, as they would still have organic feed and appropriate space.
The Dutch moves are the toughest yet imposed in the EU's 25 member
states since Russian authorities confirmed the H5N1 strain of bird flu,
potentially lethal to humans, in six regions.
Russia warned that the disease could spread to Europe and the Middle
East, as migratory birds moved into warmer areas before winter after nesting
in Siberia.
Germany may bring forward a proposed order to keep flocks of poultry
in cages to further reduce the risk of the spread of bird flu, as
politicians yesterday dragged the issue into the campaign for its general
election on September 18.
Poultry industry representatives also called for the order to be
introduced earlier than planned, but farmers using free-range poultry were
more cautious. Thomas Dosch, chair of the Bioland association of ecological
farmers said that "exceptions are needed from the order", such as allowing
birds to use open-air pens covered by netting.
--
Regards
Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com
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