Pigs - Avian Flu - Movement Restrictions
- From: "Pat Gardiner" <patgardiner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 07:59:05 +0000 (UTC)
Pat's Note: As you know I was expecting this. They fear a repeat of CSF and
FMD where industrial scale production of pigs is again involved.
PMWS/PDNS seems to make pigs vulnerable to other diseases.
Recall that the continuing PMWS/PDNS epidemic in East Anglia started just
before CSF and FMD hit.
The government are again preparing for a mass cull of pigs, if necessary.
Let's hope that this time the State Veterinary Service carry out their
duties without telling continuous lies and resorting to criminal activity.
I imagine that the Government will have enough sense to put them under
effective Ministry of Defence control immediately, rather than waiting until
they have run amok.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,14207,1555121,00.html?gusrc=rss
Scientists fear pigs may play role in bird flu
Officials meet farmers to plan ways to stop spread of viruses
James Meikle, health correspondent
Wednesday August 24, 2005
The Guardian
Government officials are in discussions with farmers about restricting the
movement of pigs as well as poultry as they prepare for the possible arrival
of avian flu in the UK.
Powers to cull and control poultry as well as remove potentially infected
birds from the food chain are already available but it emerged yesterday
that talks are under way on whether further measures might be necessary.
Scientists fear that pigs can act as "mixing vessels" for flus that would
otherwise be mainly harmful to birds - although humans in close contact can
be infected and killed by such viruses - and turn them into a highly
contagious disease that spreads easily between humans.
The trend towards outdoor breeding of pigs as well as the popularity of
free-range chicken means that British farms may be susceptible to the threat
from migrating wild birds bringing bird flu from other parts of the world.
Avian flu is not regarded as a pig disease so there are no powers to cull
them at present although the European commission is introducing a directive
that would enable governments to act. Fred Landeg, the deputy chief vet,
will be Britain's representative at an EC meeting in Brussels tomorrow to
discuss avian flu and other issues.
Meanwhile, the government insisted there was no need to shut free-range
chickens indoors as was ordered in the Netherlands on Monday.
The environment department, Defra, yesterday met with industry bodies. It
said: "There will be continuing dialogue to ensure we are best prepared to
meet any heightened risk of disease or any future outbreak. We are
continuing to review together the assessment of the risk of avian influenza
but are content that the risk remains low and there is no need at this stage
for the industry to be asked to bring indoors free-range birds.
"We are looking jointly at what steps might be appropriate in future in
different circumstances to respond to changes in levels of risk."
Bob McCracken, the president of the British Veterinary Association, said it
was vital to spot the arrival of avian flu early and called on the
government to authorise more proactive surveillance in at-risk areas such as
farms where poultry was kept outdoors and with water where migrating birds
were likely to land.
"We would not go out and blindly sample domesticated birds throughout the
UK," he said. "We would concentrate our efforts on those areas where we
believe contact with migrating birds is more likely."
Ian Campbell of the National Pig Association said: "At this moment, the
actual risk on the pig side is relatively low, though clearly the
expectation is that it will grow."
There was no clear indication of how many farms have pigs and poultry on
them, especially since the law did not require poultry owners to be
registered. "I suspect the number that have a few poultry running round the
place is probably quite significant." About 30%-35% of the pig breeding herd
was now thought be outdoors, he said.
The RSPB warned against any clamour for the destruction of wild birds. A
spokesman, Andre Farrer, said: "If you kill wild birds, it would not only be
highly likely to be ineffective, but also would be likely to disperse the
birds in a highly unpredictable manner."
Although migrating flocks could bring bird flu to Britain, it is also
possible that travellers to areas where there have been outbreaks could
return with it. There are no plans to screen for it at ports or airports
because flu is infectious before symptoms show.
But GPs are being warned to look out for patients who might have had a
travel history. Tests could show within hours whether a patient had a virus
of the H5N1 type which has caused such problems in south-east Asia.
If a pandemic arrived, the government hopes its ordering of 14.6m courses of
antiviral drugs for those most at risk, plus 2m courses of vaccines for key
workers, even if these might not be effective against a new strain of flu,
could hold the line against it while other measures were developed.
Officials hope to learn from problems in the Netherlands where bird flu
struck two years ago. A vet died and at least 1,000 people were infected.
History of outbreaks
A nasty form of bird flu, once known as fowl pest, was first identified in
Italy in 1878.
In the 1920s, the US suffered two outbreaks. Milder forms of the disease in
birds, caused by influenza A viruses, have been relatively common worldwide,
but highly pathogenic subtypes have also been reported more often over the
past 30 years. There are no effective vaccines that can be quickly
administered and other drugs may help the disease to spread.
In 1997, the type known as H5N1 caused problems in Hong Kong. It originated
in China in water birds, which often do not show signs of illness, spreading
to geese and then more generally to poultry. Eighteen people caught the bird
flu and six died. New controls were imposed on markets.
Four years later, a variation of this flu struck Hong Kong again, and was
responsible for two reported cases and one death. In 2003 another H5N1 flu
hit south-east Asia, leading to the culling of millions of birds.
Fifty-seven of the 112 confirmed human cases have died so far, but
transmission from person to person seems to have been limited. There is no
evidence yet that a deadly mutation has taken place to make it spread more
easily between people.
Another avian flu virus, H7N7, hit the Netherlands two years ago. A vet died
and 1,000 people were infected. Some 30 million poultry were culled.
The last outbreak of avian flu in Britain was detected in a flock of turkeys
in Norfolk in 1992. It was swiftly contained.
Regards
Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com
.
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