Turkey culls over 1 million fowl in fight against bird flu

Turkey has culled 1.107 million fowl so far to combat bird flu spread in the country, Turkish National Coordination Center for Bird Flu announced on Thursday. According to the center, bird flu was detected in 13 provinces and 24 localities in Turkey while suspected bird flu cases were reported in 28 provinces and 73 localities. The provinces where bird flu was detected are as follows: Igdir, Erzurum, Agri, Sanliurfa, Erzincan, Bitlis, Yozgat, Ankara, Bursa, Istanbul, Van, Aydin and Kars.

So far, there are 21 people confirmed of infecting bird flu in Turkey, among whom four children have died since. The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed about 80 people in Asia since its latest outbreak in late 2003.

Experts fear that the disease, which currently jumps from birds to humans, might mutate into a form that can easily transmit among humans, which would lead to a global pandemic, killing millions. Source: Xinhua

Free Chicken Meat Reduces Anxiety over Bird Flu

By Economy News Desk Published: Sunday, January 22, 2006 zaman.com

The suppliers of chicken meat have begun to use interesting methods to boost their sales following severe stagnation due to intense anxiety over the bird flu.

Some markets stopped providing the chicken meat service to their customers, whereas seven companies in Batman distributed free cooked chicken to long lines of people. The volume of chicken meat sales went down considerably because of the negative effect of bird flu, said the owners of those seven companies. To solve this problem, a joint decision was made among those owners to distribute free cooked chicken meat in the Meydan (Square) district of Batman. Long lines of people were spotted shouting at each other from time to time to get as much free chicken as possible. The people said they believed the distributed chicken meat could not be infected with the strain of bird flu virus as the meet was being distributed by about seven prominent companies. Crowds of people lined the streets to eat the free meat.

For a dealer of chicken meat in Kayseri, however, the solution was to change his job.

"We could not sell a single pack of chicken meat for the past one to two weeks," said Duran Felek, adding that it was 800 kilos of chicken meat a day on average that Duran could sell prior to the outbreak of bird flu. Felek said he is selling vegetables and fruit for the time being.

Meanwhile, the chairmen of the eastern Marmara stock markets and chambers came together with the bird breeders to discuss possible solutions. The meeting ended with the release of a written statement that the public organizations should be encouraged to consume more white meat. The bird flu virus left around 80 people dead in the past nine years around the world, said Burhan Unlu, the General Manager of Sen Pilic. Unlu was disturbed by the news reports that tended to exaggerate the current situation when he said that around 260,000 people died from the common flu last year.

In the meantime, the bird breeders in Konya began to feed the starving chickens with the reserved eggs because they wanted to cut the expenses as well as to use unsold eggs. - zaman.com

'It's part of our lives, we know how to live with it'

John Aglionby in Hanoi Saturday April 8, 2006 - The Guardian

The smell of roasting chicken wafted out of the open-fronted Happy Life restaurant in central Hanoi and into the open road.

"It would have been a waste of time and money cooking these a year ago, as everyone was too scared to eat chicken," said Hoang Nguyen as he basted the birds before turning them over. "But now life is returning to normal. People are no longer afraid, they're no longer panicking. They understand the situation much better than before." The diners agreed. "Bird flu is part of our lives now, we know how to live with it," said Le Minh. "We've been taught that as long as it's cooked properly and comes from a reliable source then there is nothing to worry about."

The calmness extends beyond the better-educated urban areas, according to Jeff Gilbert, the avian influenza expert, at the UN's food and agriculture organisation office in Vietnam. "I thing that even in the countryside the majority of people now have some understanding of bird flu, even if it's not yet a complete understanding," he said. The government had listened to advice, he said, and implemented effective strategies. Live animal markets had been banned and people given incentives to report sick birds and animals.

The impact has been startling. After 29 human cases and 21 deaths in 2004 and 61 cases and 19 deaths last year, there have been no cases so far this year.

It is a similar story in Thailand. The government covered up the outbreak in January 2004 but has learned that secrecy is the worst possible approach. "If we make everything very transparent and act in a timely manner then people will believe what we say," said Dr Kumnuan Ungchusak, the director of epidemiology at the public health ministry. "But if you delay people will always put a question mark against what you say."

In Thailand, anyone with remotely suspicious symptoms is investigated. This year there have been about 800 notifications but not one positive case.

Another measure the Thais have adopted is to train tens of thousands of rural volunteers to monitor any suspicious illnesses in animals and humans. "Having the same person at the community level chase down animal and human cases makes such a difference," said Bill Aldis, the head of the World Health Organisation in south-east Asia. "If you link it to the same reporting chains from the outset then the sensitivity and specificity of human cases rises significantly." But there was no single right approach, he said, pointing to the fact that Vietnam had vaccinated birds but Thailand had chosen to cull.

Both approaches had proved effective. Indonesia is proof of what happens if governments do not react decisively. Twelve people have died this year from 13 cases, following on from 11 deaths from 17 cases last year - the only country in the region witnessing an increase in cases over the past 18 months. "Things are starting to get into place now," said Peter Roeder of the FAO. "There's a new coordinating body for bird flu and the surveillance system is starting to get up to speed."

Food safety watchdog says cooked poultry, eggs "safe"

By Ahmed ElAmin 23/03/2006 - A report on avian influenza from the EU's food safety watchdog could help to calm consumer fears about eating poultry and eggs, even though the regulator's scientists have also sounded a note of caution.

"There is no epidemiological evidence to date that avian influenza can be transmitted to humans through consumption of food, notably poultry and eggs," the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded in its report, issued today.

The march of avian influenza across Europe has heightened the public's fears over the safety of the bloc's poultry. Poultry consumption has plunged in many EU member states, by up to 70 per cent in some countries. Scientists are worried that the H5N1 form of the virus, which can be transmitted from poultry to humans, may mutate so that it can be transmitted from human to human and start a influenza pandemic.

About 100 people have died from the disease so far worldwide, including four in Turkey and three in Azerbaijan.

Direct transfer of H5N1 to humans occurs rarely and particularly after very close contact with infected animals. The exact method of infection from animals to humans is currently not known but it is generally accepted that respiratory tissues are the entry sites. Some have raised the possibility of virus entry via the gastrointestinal tract after ingestion with food.

"So far, there is no proof that virus replicates in the human intestine," the EFSA scientists stated. "... Foodborne virus might be a source of infection after ingestion but with virus uptake taking place via oropharyngeal (throat) tissues, if this site can serve as portal of entry. The existence of an undisclosed virus entry site in the intestinal tract can, however, not be ruled out at this time."

EFSA said it had prepared the report due to the presence of H5N1 avian influenza in the EU and the heightened public concern over the safety of poultry products and eggs. Companies can then be able to use the finding to assure wary consumers that their products are safe to eat when properly cooked.

The background document examines the state-of-science on all highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) viruses, including H5N1, and the possible transfer t humans and other mammals via the food chain.

Edible tissues from infected animals, if collected within two to five days after contact with virus has taken place, may contain high virus quantities, the document stated.

"EFSA and other organisations such as the WHO generally support longstanding food safety advice that chicken and eggs be properly cooked in order to protect consumers from possible risks of food poisoning," the document staed. "Thoroughly cooking poultry meat and eggs also eliminates viruses, thereby providing further safety assurance in the unlikely event that H5N1 virus be present in raw poultry products entering the food chain."

The report also noted that scientists do not know why the H5N1 virus causes infection in some humans and not in others. More research is required, including studies on whether the virus can cause infection through the intestinal tract.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported that recent avian influenza outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa have caused dramatic swings in poultry consumption, increased trade bans and sharp price declines. The UN agency expects poultry consumption shocks this year in many countries.

"A steady erosion of previously expected gains in per caput poultry consumption will likely push down global poultry consumption in 2006, currently estimated at 81.8 million tonnes, nearly three million tonnes lower than the previous 2006 estimate of 84.6 million tonnes," stated FAO commodity specialist Nancy Morgan.

According to the FAO report consumption shocks are ranging from a dramatic 70 per cent decline in Italy in mid-February to 20 per cent in France and 10 per cent in northern Europe.

These responses are similar to the European situation in late 2005 when widespread consumer concerns about bird flu outbreaks contributed to an annual one percent consumption drop in 15 countries in the EU.

In Africa, consumers in affected countries, such as Egypt and Nigeria, are moving away from poultry and egg products as are consumers in surrounding non-affected countries. In India reports of consumption drops of 25 per cent have caused domestic prices to fall 12 to 13 per cent.

Sharply reduced international poultry prices are raising uncertainty among exporters about trade prospects in 2006, the FAO stated.

"As consumers look for alternatives to poultry, global trade prospects will likely erode from the 10 per cent gains witnessed in 2005," the organisation stated.

In the US, export prices for broiler cuts, after rising to record levels in October, dropped 13 per cent as a result of declining shipments to Eastern Europe and Central Asia in November and December.

In Brazil, where exports account for approximately 30 per cent of total poultry output, the price of day-old chicks, an early warning indicator of potential production changes, is down sharply. Brazil and the US supply about 70 per cent of global poultry trade.

The largest poultry producers and exporters are the United States, Brazil and the EU.

The crisis has also affected the $42 billion dollar feed sector in Europe, with demand losses estimated at up to 40 per cent in some countries, the FAO stated.

Around 200 million chickens have been culled or have died of the disease worldwide since the onset of the crisis in late 2003. - nutraingredients.com