Worker involved in British bird flu outbreak undergoing tests for the virus

Feb 7 2007

According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in Britain one of the workers who had been dealing with the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk in England has been admitted to hospital.

The young man, said to be a vet, is apparently suffering a mild respiratory illness and is undergoing tests, one of which would be for the H5N1 strain of avian flu.

He is at a Nottingham hospital and is being kept in isolation.

The HPA says it is highly unlikely the worker has been exposed to H5N1 because of the strict precautionary measures undertaken and the worker had not been pre-exposed and was wearing full protective clothing.

Since the outbreak of the H5N1 strain last week which killed 2,500 birds on the farm; another 159,000 turkeys have been slaughtered.

Authorities insist there is little risk to the public health or to the poultry industry but nevertheless experts remain baffled as to the cause of the outbreak.

The huge commercial poultry farm in Holton owned by Bernard Matthews is around about 130 miles northeast of London; the company is Europe's biggest turkey producer; a number of countries, including Japan, Russia, Hong Kong, South Africa, South Korea have already banned British poultry imports.

The European commission (EU) has said export bans on British poultry following the outbreak are "totally disproportionate" as bird flu contingency plans set up by the EU which require the isolation of the infected area and the provision of a buffer zone to contain any spread of the disease, had been carried out.

The EU says only a localised trade restriction on poultry from the affected area could be justified.

An EU spokesman says the measures were established in order to avoid the need for a general trade ban on poultry against the EU member state concerned.

The EU says it is prepared to support claims from the UK authorities for funds if the poultry market collapses as a result of the bird flu outbreak and says it will help UK authorities to persuade the countries that have imposed bans that their action unjustified in order to return the situation to normality as soon as possible.

The statements are timely as EU veterinary experts are currently meeting in Brussels to discuss the bird flu outbreak and review safety procedures.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) bird flu has killed or prompted the culling of millions of birds since late 2003, and has killed at least 165 people worldwide.

It is however in it's present form, difficult for humans to catch and virtually all human cases have been as a result of contact with infected birds.

However experts fear the virus will mutate into a form that spreads easily among people, with the potential to trigger a global pandemic.

British government scientists have yet to identify the source of the outbreak but it appears the strain of the virus in the Suffolk poultry is identical to one found among geese in Hungary last month, where incidentally the Bernard Matthews company has huge commercial poultry operations.