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Europe's bird flu risk easing but not over
Europe's bird flu risk easing but not over
Friday, May 5, 2006
Conservation groups say the international trade in poultry is more to blame for spreading the virus that has killed more than 100 people, mostly in Asia
DAVID EVANS
PARIS - Reuters
The risk from migratory birds carrying the H5N1 virus from Africa to Europe may be easing but countries looking to relax measures protecting their poultry still need to be on guard, experts said.
The spring migration involving millions of birds from Africa to the northern hemisphere has been underway for weeks, and yet so far there has been no recorded case of the Asian bird flu strain in Europe linked to wildfowl from the continent.
Conservation groups say the international trade in poultry is more to blame for spreading the virus that has killed more than 100 people, mostly in Asia.
But animal health experts still believe migration is key, saying one reason H5N1 has not spread from Africa may be that it has largely been confined to poultry farms in the six African countries to confirm cases.
"We know that in Africa there may be few wild infected birds, but a few wild infected birds can be enough to get an outbreak," Christianne Bruschke, head of the bird flu task force at the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), told Reuters.
"We haven't seen outbreaks in Europe or the United States, which is very good, but it doesn't mean it's impossible for an infected bird to fly from Africa to Europe or North America."
The African migration season lasts until the end of May, but already some European countries have begun easing bans on keeping their domestic poultry flocks outside.
Major poultry exporter the Netherlands said it believed the migratory risk had now passed.
The bird flu cases found so far in Europe have been linked to infected swans and other wildfowl displaced by extreme cold weather around the Black Sea earlier this year.
A government spokesman in France, which has recorded more than 60 wild bird cases, said none had come from Africa.
One country that has had no bird flu is Spain, despite fears that migrating birds would bring the virus north from Africa.
Juan Jose Badiola, head of the Spanish Veterinary Association, said aquatic birds that return to Spain from Africa in the spring tended to winter on the West African coast between Mauritania and Senegal, where there have been no cases.
"The risk for Spain now is less than it was two months ago, but it's too early to lower our guard," he said. "This is a highly contagious disease and it's moving west within Africa."
Trade or migration:Conservation groups such as Birdlife International say the pattern of the spread of the virus suggests migration is not to blame in many cases, including those in Africa.
"Recent outbreaks in Cameroon, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Niger, Nigeria and Pakistan originated within the poultry industry," Birdlife said in a statement.
"The timing and location of these outbreaks do not match the movements of migratory birds." The groups acknowledge certain wildfowl species can carry the virus but say the birds die after flying relatively short distances. Only by transmitting the disease to other birds can the virus be passed long distances.
And at a conference organised by the Lancet medical journal this week in Singapore, a top flu expert also warned the scientific community against blaming migratory birds.
"We forget that there is an enormous commercial industry with the movement of animals all the time. That, to me, is the most obvious thing to look for," said Kennedy Shortridge, who spent three decades studying influenza viruses.
"Lots of people don't realise that there's movement of poultry from one country to another, even to Nigeria, where we've got bird flu. People are transporting all sorts of poultry meat," he said.
The OIE says more research is needed into which species are more susceptible to the virus and how long birds can fly with it. However, it still believes migration is a major factor.
"My firm belief is that the migration of birds carries the virus over big distances," Bruschke said.
"And within regions it is spread more by (trade) movements of birds, which could be legal or illegal," she added.
Europe's bird flu risk easing but not over
Friday, May 5, 2006
Conservation groups say the international trade in poultry is more to blame for spreading the virus that has killed more than 100 people, mostly in Asia
DAVID EVANS
PARIS - Reuters
The risk from migratory birds carrying the H5N1 virus from Africa to Europe may be easing but countries looking to relax measures protecting their poultry still need to be on guard, experts said.
The spring migration involving millions of birds from Africa to the northern hemisphere has been underway for weeks, and yet so far there has been no recorded case of the Asian bird flu strain in Europe linked to wildfowl from the continent.
Conservation groups say the international trade in poultry is more to blame for spreading the virus that has killed more than 100 people, mostly in Asia.
But animal health experts still believe migration is key, saying one reason H5N1 has not spread from Africa may be that it has largely been confined to poultry farms in the six African countries to confirm cases.
"We know that in Africa there may be few wild infected birds, but a few wild infected birds can be enough to get an outbreak," Christianne Bruschke, head of the bird flu task force at the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), told Reuters.
"We haven't seen outbreaks in Europe or the United States, which is very good, but it doesn't mean it's impossible for an infected bird to fly from Africa to Europe or North America."
The African migration season lasts until the end of May, but already some European countries have begun easing bans on keeping their domestic poultry flocks outside.
Major poultry exporter the Netherlands said it believed the migratory risk had now passed.
The bird flu cases found so far in Europe have been linked to infected swans and other wildfowl displaced by extreme cold weather around the Black Sea earlier this year.
A government spokesman in France, which has recorded more than 60 wild bird cases, said none had come from Africa.
One country that has had no bird flu is Spain, despite fears that migrating birds would bring the virus north from Africa.
Juan Jose Badiola, head of the Spanish Veterinary Association, said aquatic birds that return to Spain from Africa in the spring tended to winter on the West African coast between Mauritania and Senegal, where there have been no cases.
"The risk for Spain now is less than it was two months ago, but it's too early to lower our guard," he said. "This is a highly contagious disease and it's moving west within Africa."
Trade or migration:Conservation groups such as Birdlife International say the pattern of the spread of the virus suggests migration is not to blame in many cases, including those in Africa.
"Recent outbreaks in Cameroon, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Niger, Nigeria and Pakistan originated within the poultry industry," Birdlife said in a statement.
"The timing and location of these outbreaks do not match the movements of migratory birds." The groups acknowledge certain wildfowl species can carry the virus but say the birds die after flying relatively short distances. Only by transmitting the disease to other birds can the virus be passed long distances.
And at a conference organised by the Lancet medical journal this week in Singapore, a top flu expert also warned the scientific community against blaming migratory birds.
"We forget that there is an enormous commercial industry with the movement of animals all the time. That, to me, is the most obvious thing to look for," said Kennedy Shortridge, who spent three decades studying influenza viruses.
"Lots of people don't realise that there's movement of poultry from one country to another, even to Nigeria, where we've got bird flu. People are transporting all sorts of poultry meat," he said.
The OIE says more research is needed into which species are more susceptible to the virus and how long birds can fly with it. However, it still believes migration is a major factor.
"My firm belief is that the migration of birds carries the virus over big distances," Bruschke said.
"And within regions it is spread more by (trade) movements of birds, which could be legal or illegal," she added.
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