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Published Date: 2007-02-05 21:00:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza (26): Netherlands & Norway (precaution), UK, Russia
Archive Number: 20070205.0458

AVIAN INFLUENZA (26): NETHERLANDS & NORWAY (PRECAUTION), UK, RUSSIA
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[1] Netherlands, precautionary measures
[2] Norway, precautionary measures
[3] UK (England), control measures, origin investigation
[4] Russia, Krasnodar
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[1] Netherlands, precautionary measures
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source:Expatica.com [edited]
<http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=36133>

The Ministry of Agriculture ordered poultry farmers throughout the
Netherlands to bring all livestock indoors over the weekend. This
measure was taken in response to an outbreak of bird flu at a turkey
farm in Suffolk, England.
The virus H5N1, which is harmful to humans, was found on the farm.
Two weeks ago it was found in Hungary as well.
The Suffolk farm is one of the largest poultry farms in Europe. The
160 000 turkeys at the farm were culled over the weekend.
--
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[The previous official Dutch requirement to keep poultry indoor was
last discontinued end September 2006.
According to the Dutch electronic newspaper <http://www.zibb.nl/> (5
Feb 2007), commercial as well as "hobby" avian owners are obliged to
keep poultry sheltered, in force since Sat, 3 Feb 2007, 6 pm. At
present, enforcement of the said order is concentrated in the
commercial sector. When chicken or turkeys are detected outdoors,
their owners are allowed several days to accomplish closure.
Subsequently, they are fined if not compliant (1000 Euros per day).
"Hobby" premises will be controlled later this week; their fines a
mount to 100 Euros. - Mod.AS]
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[2] Norway, precautionary measures
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source: NRK/Press release via Norwaypost [edited]
<http://www.norwaypost.no/cgi-bin/norwaypost/imaker?id=49525>

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has declared parts of Norway as
high-risk areas following confirmation of H5N1 avian influenza in
poultry in South East England. The public are asked to report dead
wild bird to the Food Safety Authority.
In the high-risk areas poultry keepers must ensure that their animals
do not come into direct contact with wild birds, and gatherings and
shows for domestic birds are forbidden.
Owners of poultry and other birds in the high-risk areas that have
not earlier registered their animals are obliged to register their
animals in a central register.
The heightened measures are introduced following confirmation of H5N1
avian influenza in a poultry holding in South East England.
The British authorities are carrying out an urgent veterinary risk
assessment in consultation with ornithological experts to consider
the specific circumstances of this case and determine the level of
risk, if any, it may pose to poultry and other kept birds.
The EU countries and Norway will discuss the need for new measures
the coming week in Brussels in the light of the risk assessment and
any new developments.
The public is also asked to report dead wild birds to the nearest
office of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority on local phone number
06040. Sick or dead birds should not be touched.
Only essential personnel should enter poultry farms, and one should
avoid bringing in potentially infectious material.
--
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[3] UK (England), control measures, origin investigation
Date: Mon 5 Feb 2007
From: Nati Elkin <nati@poultrymed.com>
Source: Independent, UK [edited]
<http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2237637.ece>

Vaccination of all poultry flocks in Europe against avian flu should
be considered in the wake of the outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus on
a turkey farm in Suffolk, a senior European public health expert said
yesterday.
As the operation to gas almost 160 000 birds on the Bernard Matthews
arm in Holton continued, Professor Koos Van der Velden, the chairman
of the European Influenza Surveillance Scheme, in Utrecht,
Netherlands, said the outbreak would increase the pressure on
European governments to step up counter-measures.
The UK is expected to be at the top of the agenda at tomorrow's
routine meeting of the EU's veterinary experts in Brussels. Thirteen
EU countries have been hit by avian flu since the beginning of 2006
and the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health --
senior government vets from 27 countries -- already require member
states to ring-fence outbreak sites and impose strict controls on the
movement of poultry, as has been done in Suffolk.
Professor Van der Velden said: "There should definitely be a debate
about vaccination [of poultry]. In Asia more and more countries are
vaccinating. In the Netherlands we vaccinate. Its effectiveness is
not proven but it should be discussed."
UK scientists fear vaccination could mask the start of an epidemic
because it reduces the infectiousness of birds and stops them dying
but does not halt the spread of disease. The Netherlands vaccinates
90 per cent of each flock, leaving 10 per cent unprotected. "When the
virus strikes you can see its impact. That is a clever tactic,"
Professor Van der Velden said.
Supermarkets were bracing themselves for a sharp fall in poultry
sales this week, fearing publicity about the outbreak would deter
shoppers. Sales in Italy fell 40 per cent and in France by 20 per
cent after similar outbreaks.
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "We have seen 2 scares before --
one in Scotland and one in Norfolk -- and we didn't see a dip in
sales then. This time may be different but the facts are that you
cannot get avian flu from eating poultry and eggs.
"We hope those facts have got across and consumers in the UK are
wiser. The disease is not in the food chain, the people who have
contracted avian flu have done so from working with ill poultry."
The mystifying aspect of the outbreak is how the virus penetrated a
supposedly bio-secure poultry shed run by one of Britain's most
successful poultry producers. Professor John Oxford, a virologist and
flu expert from St Mary's College, London, said it had been expected
that the 1st outbreak would occur on a small free-range farm where
chickens had contact with wild birds.
A wild bird carrying the virus might have entered the Bernard
Matthews shed via a ventilation shaft, he said. Other experts said
droppings from an infected bird falling on the concrete apron outside
the shed could have been walked into it on the shoes of workers.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs said yesterday there were no new reports of infected birds
and the investigation into what triggered the outbreak was continuing.
The UK held 10 million doses of vaccine to be used to create a buffer
zone should further outbreaks occur, but had no plans to introduce
routine vaccination.
Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, said yesterday
the Government was preparing "very, very seriously and thoroughly"
for a pandemic triggered by avian flu.
Although there is a low risk of humans being infected directly with
avian flu, scientists fear it could mix with a human flu and mutate
to create a new pandemic strain. Ms Hewitt added: "It is a very remote risk."
David Nabarro, who heads the UN department co-ordinating the global
fight against the virus, said the world should expect more avian flu
outbreaks in the coming months.
[Byline: Jeremy Laurance]
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******
[4] Russia, Krasnodar
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source: ITAR-TASS [edited]
<http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11220851>

The All-Russian Animals Protection Research Institute confirmed that
45 domestic birds died of bird flu at small farms in the Krasnodar
territory, advisor to the head of the regional consumer rights
protection watchdog Irina Voronkova told Itar-Tass on Monday [5 Feb 2007].
According to her, "Tissue samples taken in the settlements of
Upornaya, Lenin and Borodinskoye showed that the H5N1 virus killed
domestic birds." No new lethal cases among birds were registered for
the past week.
The territorial department of the Federal Service for Supervision of
Consumer Rights and Welfare also noted that the ordinary flu
incidence rate among residents of the districts, where bird flu cases
were registered, does not exceed the epidemiological threshold. Only
few flu cases were registered among residents of Borodinskoye,
Upornaya and Luch.
Anti-epizootic, preventive anti-epidemic and disinfection measures
are being taken in order to prevent bird flu from spreading, the
regional consumer rights watchdog said.
The foresaid bird flu cases are the first in the Krasnodar territory
this year. In 2006 more than 300 000 birds died of bird flu at one
poultry farm. [see commentary].
--
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[This might be a repetition or extension of information included in
the previous posting 20070129.0384. Russia's last update on avian
influenza was sent to the OIE on 3 Aug 2006; see
<http://www.oie.int/eng/info/hebdo/AIS_06.HTM#Sec0>.
The Krasnodar Territory, an administrative division in southeastern
European Russia, extends from the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea into
the Kuban steppe and straddles the northwestern end of the Greater
Caucasus. See map at <http://alenos.piranho.de/regionen/krasnodar.JPG>.
An administrative map of Russia is available at
<http://www.eegas.com/images/11-legend.gif>. - Mod.AS]

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