EU poultry producers disagrees with vaccination plan
- From: " Jill" <newsNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:23:52 -0000
EU's poultry industry disagrees with bloc's vaccination plan By Ahmed
ElAmin
24/02/2006 - The EU's poultry association has joined in the criticism of the
European Commission for approving the vaccination of poultry flocks in the
Netherlands and France.
The association also responded to questions on reports of products being
stockpiled as the public turns away from eating poultry and over plant
safety for workers in the industry.
Cees Vermeeren, head of the Brussels office for the Association of Poultry
Processors and Poultry Trade in the EU countries (AVEC) said the group
believes that there are still a lot of questions to be answered with regard
to vaccination.
"In our opinion is it far too early to introduce a vaccination programme,"
he told FoodProductionDaily.com today. "Vaccination requires firm additional
measures on the farms since vaccinated poultry can still be infected without
showing the symptoms. If the virus is masked (by vaccination) it will create
the situation we all want to prevent -- making the virus endemic."
AVEC's position received support yesterday after Joe Brownlie, a professor
at the UK's Royal Veterinary College, said that France and the Netherlands'
decisions to vaccinate was "premature".
"To vaccinate the entire domestic stock would be premature because the
current vaccine is not highly effective at reducing infection with avian
influenza - and may complicate clinical diagnosis," Brownlie stated. "Where
possible chickens and other poultry should be moved inside where it can be
done humanely and there is room in buildings to keep them comfortably."
When chickens cannot be kept inside they should be monitored carefully
outside until a solution is found, he said.
"It is not necessary to slaughter large numbers of chickens simply because
they cannot be housed inside," he said. "From the evidence we have at the
moment it is not if bird flu arrives - but when - and it is most likely to
be from migrating wild fowl such as swans or ducks."
The EU's controversal approval of decisions by France and the Netherlands'
to start vaccinating their poultry highlights the fault lines in the bloc's
response to avian influenza.
AVEC's Vermeeren also responded to questions about what the industry is
doing about all the surplus poultry that is being stockpiled.
He said poultry producers are attempting to market the product in the best
way.
"But the first objective is to maintain or regain consumer confidence with
regard to poultry meat," he said. "The main message is that poultry is
officially inspected twice so before the meat can be marketed. So poultry
meat is safe just cook it."
In terms of protection for poultry workers he said that their safety is
maintained as poultry is inspected twice, once before it arrives at the
slaughterhouse or just before slaughter and secondly at the slaughter line.
"So the risk that infected poultry arrives in the slaughterhouse is
negligible," he said. "Of course the slaughter process is executed as
hygienically as possible. I do know employers have promoted that employees
of slaughterhouses have been vaccinated against influenza."
The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, a body made up
of national veterinary experts from the 25 EU member states, gave its
approval this week to the limited vaccination programmes proposed by France
and the Netherlands.
The approval was opposed by Germany, Austria, Denmark and Portugal, while
the UK said vaccination could mask the disease in poultry flocks, helping to
spread it further.
In a published statement the UK's deputy chief veterinary officer, Fred
Landeg, said that the priority of the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (Defra) is to ensure that the country is able to eradicate
avian influenza as swiftly and effectively as possible.
"Vaccination offers potential benefits but currently available vaccines are
too limited to provide a general solution," he stated. "Crucially, though
these vaccines protect against disease, they will not prevent birds from
becoming infected and shedding virus. Because the symptoms of disease would
be masked, the hidden presence of disease would pose a serious problem."
Current vaccines on the market also have severe practical limitations in
that they need to be delivered by individually injecting each bird. It can
take up to three weeks for the birds to develop optimum protective immunity
and some poultry require two doses, he said.
Early detection and slaughter of infected birds and dangerous contacts, and
the imposition of movement controls around the infected premises, provide
the most effective method of blocking the spread of bird flu, he said.
While admitting the problems with vaccination, the European Commission
yesterday defended the standing committee's decision.
"Vaccination reduces the risk of birds becoming infected with the avian
influenza virus, and lowers the chances of the virus being introduced into a
vaccinated holding, as a higher amount of the virus is needed before a
vaccinated bird will become infected," the Commission stated in a memo.
"Vaccination also reduces the amount of the virus shed in the environment by
a bird if it does become infected with avian flu, thereby helping to lower
the risk of the disease spreading."
A vaccinated flock is less likely to have an outbreak of avian influenza
than a non-vaccinated flock, and if an outbreak of the disease does occur it
is slower to spread and easier to contain and eradicate in a vaccinated
flock, the Commission stated.
The EU's new Avian Influenza Directive, adopted in December 2005, allows
members to carry out preventive vaccination against avian flu. Although the
new Avian Influenza Directive does not have to be implemented by Member
States until July 31 2007, it entered into force in February 2005.
Therefore, national authorities
Restricted vaccination programmes can now begin immediately in the two
countries. Other countries must first gain similar approval to being their
programmes.
France applied to vaccinate ducks and geese in the departments of Landes,
Loire-Atlantique and Vendée, which are considered to be areas at high risk
of avian influenza.
Vaccination was deemed necessary for the ducks and geese in these regions
due to the fact that these birds cannot be easily put indoors and therefore
their effective separation from potentially infected wild birds cannot be
assured.
Vaccination will begin on immediately, and will be carried out until 1 April
2006, during which time about 900,000 birds are expected to be immunised
against the H5N1 virus.
In addition to these measures outlined by the French, the Commission
proposal lays down further conditions, particularly in relation to the
movement of vaccinated poultry.
Vaccinated live poultry, their hatching eggs and day-old chicks cannot be
exported or moved to another member state or third country. Within France,
vaccinated birds can only be moved to other vaccinated holdings, to holdings
where there is complete separation of vaccinated and non-vaccinated birds,
or to a slaughterhouse for immediate slaughter.
Fresh meat and meat products from the vaccinated poultry can be marketed in
the EU and dispatched to third countries, provided it comes from approved
holdings. The flock from which the meat originates must have been inspected
by a vet 48 hours prior to slaughter.
The Commission proposal also requires that any packaging or means of
transport used for vaccinated birds and their products is properly washed
and disinfected.
The Dutch vaccination plan applies to hobby poultry and to free-range laying
hens throughout the whole country. The Netherlands has between one to three
million hobby birds and about five million free-range laying hens.
The Commission also said the decision endorsed the Dutch proposal on the
movement of poultry and their products.
Vaccinated hobby poultry will only be allowed to be moved to other
vaccinated backyard holdings in the Netherlands subject to permission from
the authorities. Movement of the restricted birds to another member will
require authorisation from both the Dutch authorities and the authorities of
the recipient country.
Meanwhile the UK's Soil Association disagrees with Defra's approach. The
body calling for the government to consider 'ring-fence' vaccination as part
of the control strategy in the event of any outbreak of avian influenza in
the UK.
The EU position on vaccination is the method of control endorsed by both the
UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for
Animal Health (OIE), the Soil Association stated.
The Soil Association als that nlike other EU countries, such as Spain, the
UK has no stockpiles of appropriate vaccine.
"Urgent action is needed, given the potential for an imminent outbreak and
the fact that it will take at least three months to produce sufficient
stocks of vaccine and to train people to administer it to birds effectively
and humanely," the association stated.
Poultry workers are at risk from catching the virus, the association noted.
While catching the virus from live birds is possible, the likelihood is very
low.
The risk is high when infected birds are slaughtered, as fine particles of
blood, mucus and faeces are sprayed through the air.
Handling an infected carcass or getting infected blood on hands would bring
a worker into direct contact with the virus. It could then enter the body
though a cut in your skin or for example if a finger is put in the mouth.
The UK government is currently discussing what action to take in case of an
outbreak. The Soil Association is against bringing birds inside as this
would destroy the free-range and organic segments.
"Permanent indoor housing provides ideal conditions for spreading any
disease, not just avian flu, and so requiring the use of in-feed
antibiotics - already linked to negative human health impacts," the
association stated. "It would also be a huge backwards step in the progress
we have made in developing free range and organic farms in this country and
the great health and animal welfare benefits that these systems deliver."
The EU's decision followed two days of talks on a strategy to contain the
spread of the disease, now present in eight EU countries.EU's poultry
industry disagrees with bloc's vaccination plan
--
regards
Jill Bowis
Pure bred utility chickens and ducks
Housing; Equipment, Books, Videos, Gifts
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine nursery
Working Holidays in Scotland
http://www.kintaline.co.uk
.
- Prev by Date: Re: Bird flu news - France and Germany
- Next by Date: Re: hydroponics
- Previous by thread: Voluntary Modulation
- Next by thread: Sale (or not) of "vaccinated meat"
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
