UK Shop Meat Checked For Bird Flu Virus

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Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Public Health;  Nutrition / Diet;  Veterinary
Article Date: 09 Feb 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is checking whether bird flu contaminated poultry meat is being sold in UK shops.

Last week, 2.500 young turkey chicks died from the deadly strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus on a Bernard Matthews farm in Holton, Suffolk, UK. Nearly 160,000 birds have since been culled to contain the outbreak.

Sir David King, the UK Government's chief scientist said that the strain of H5N1 found in Suffolk is identical to that found earlier this year on a goose farm in Szentes, Hungary, about 160 miles from Bernard Matthews' Hungarian meat processing plant in Sarvar. He told the BBC that the most likely scenario was that the H5N1 got into the country in poultry meat.

It was revealed yesterday that partly processed meat was being routinely transported from the Bernard Matthews Hungarian plant to its UK Suffolk plant, next to the farm where the outbreak occurred, every week. The Hungarian plant lies outside the restricted area.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), announced yesterday that they, DEFRA, the FSA and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) are looking into the possibility that the Hungarian outbreaks, poultry meat from Hungary, and the outbreak in Suffolk are linked.

At first government officials thought the contamination route was through wild birds, but DEFRA's Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Fred Landeg, says that new evidence suggests the virus was transmitted in meat products rather than wild birds.

Meanwhile Bernard Matthews has stopped importing poultry meat from Hungary.

The FSA are saying that even if the infected poultry meat has entered the human food chain it does not present a risk to the public.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that in areas that are disease free, poultry and its products are safe to eat as long as good hygiene is observed in its storage, handling and preparation, and the meat is cooked properly.

Fred Landeg said that the scientists are in the middle of a large and complex epidemiological investigation resembling a large jigsaw where some of the pieces are missing and may never be found. He said they may have to conclude the investigation on the "balance of probabilities".

DEFRA have said the poultry meat route is one avenue of investigation they are pursuing at present. However, they are also investigating "a number of other hypotheses". They are not ruling out the possibility that the wild bird population is infected and that it played a role in the transfer of the virus.

They said that until the investigation has come to a conclusion restrictions such as those placed on housing and shooting of birds need to remain in place.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) say that the risk of catching the deadly strain of avian flu from poultry comes only from being in close contact with live birds that are infected with the virus. Eating poultry or eggs does not carry risk of infection to humans. Poultry includes chicken, duck, goose, turkey, and guinea fowl.

Click here for Bird Flu Advice from the FSA (UK).

Key Facts About Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) and Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus (CDC, US).

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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