Avian Influenza Update

However, the policy in both the UK and Germany is to avoid the disease by 'bringing birds indoors' despite the existence of vaccines used in the field for birds which cannot be confined on welfare grounds. Not vaccinating in high-risk situations can raise more problems than it solves: waste disposal for example. And vaccines may be needed to beat the virus as it continues to evolve.

FAO Conference in Rome At the end of May, scientists met for a two day conference Avian Influenza and Wild Birds. This was at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters in Rome. One of their aims was to define the role of migratory birds in the spread of avian flu, a topic which still puzzles researchers. FAO's head of veterinary operations, Joseph Domenech, said that the recent spread of the disease in Europe has shown that long distance transport of HPAI virus happens but many facts remain to be better documented. Scientists are puzzled over why some species of wild aquatic birds are more efficient carriers of the disease than others. Aquatic migratory birds are natural reservoirs of all the flu viruses but there are also differences in the prevalence according to the species. Some birds which contracted the virus developed antibodies. Some of these appear to be genetically protected against the disease, whilst others die.

Results of EU surveillance in wild birds (EU press release 30th May 2006) The European Commission and the Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge have published the results of the surveillance for avian influenza in wild birds carried out in the EU over the past 10 months. It is estimated that around 60 000 wild birds were tested for avian influenza in the EU during the period February to May 2006. This, combined with the 39 000 wild birds tested between July 2005-January 2006, means that almost 100 000 tests for the H5N1 virus have been carried out on wild birds over the past ten months. Since February 2006, over 700 wild birds across thirteen Member States have been found to be infected with the H5N1virus. However, a decline in the incidence of the disease in Europe was noted over the last weeks in May.

The data also revealed considerable regional variation in the number of cases, ranging from 326 in Germany to 1 in the UK. The peak number of cases in wild birds was reached in March with 362 cases, following 200 in February. Since then, the number of cases declined to 162 in April and 17 in May. The most commonly affected birds have been swans representing 63% of the total, followed by ducks (16%), geese (4%), birds of prey (4%) and others (13%).

Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, said that extensive surveillance for avian influenza in wild birds and poultry has been one of the key tools to guard against the virus. "We cannot let down our guard when it comes to avian influenza, as it is likely to remain a threat for Europe and the rest of the world for many months to come," he said European Policies The issue for poultry keepers in Western Europe now is the question of how to proceed. Although avian influenza has disappeared from the UK news, outbreaks have continued in Denmark and Romania. Wild birds have also again been affected at Lake Qinghai (Asia) in four separate die-offs in April and May 2006. Qinghai was, of course, a key location for the appearance of the disease, and disease transmission, in 2005. We do not know what will happen in the autumn migration season 2006. Holland is well prepared. Vaccinated birds will not have to be confined; other birds will have to be brought indoors. Germany still insists on a non-vaccination policy despite three separate demonstrations now by poultry keepers, and increasing resistance to the policy by the opposition party.

Whilst we may not get H5N1 in the UK, surely we should at least be prepared to protect our free-range and outdoor flocks which cannot be confined? More stakeholders are now saying that a vaccination policy should be in place, in case it is needed.

Dutch Ministry of Agriculture: no more culling Press release NBvH web site, 26 May '06 ''Technocratically we organised disease control in the past well. But we underestimated the people's feelings.'' This was stated today by Harry Paul, director of Food Safety and Animal health of the Ministry of Agriculture, in a press interview. And of course he is talking about the hundreds of thousands, even millions of animals that were slaughtered during the Foot&Mouth- and bird flu-crises. Paul foresees vaccination against contagious diseases in Europe to happen in the near future.

''People no longer accept the killing of healthy animals. And we share the same views'', says Paul, who is leaving the department next month. According to Harry Paul vaccination will be normal procedure again in the near future. The consequences of the non-vaccination policy in the past years have been too radical. He expects a significant mitigation of the (almost impracticable) rules concerning vaccination of hobby poultry against bird flu to be realized this year even. For Dutch hobby holders the possibility of vaccination has not yet been used on a large scale, mostly due to the fact that no guarantee was given that vaccinated birds will be spared within the 1 km-zone. Paul expects this to be solved in the next period of evaluation in Brussels. "In September most likely birds will be locked up again and by that time we hope to have solved most of the problems with the vaccination procedure."

Whilst transport and bad hygiene are important reasons for the spreading of bird flu, the fact remains that wild birds can carry the virus. So locking up in Europe will be necessary. This is the reason why we are so keen on vaccination, says Christine Bijl , Secretary of the NBvH. "And yes, that's expensive and difficult to administer to large flocks. On the other hand it has already been done over here with nine free range farms with 3000 - 8000 birds. So it can be done."

A policy for the UK?

In the UK, stakeholders meet regularly with DEFRA. DEFRA continues to say that using vaccines is not part of its current policy. However, some stakeholders are urging DEFRA to think ahead in case we might need to vaccinate. As in Germany, it is the producers who cannot confine their birds, for welfare reasons, who are the most concerned. Yet vaccination to reduce disease transmission benefits everybody.

Poultry keepers were worried by Sir David King's announcement in February that the UK was not immediately planning to vaccinate poultry if bird flu reached Britain, despite his admission that bird flu would probably become endemic here. This implies that we will have a long-term problem of how to manage successive outbreaks of the flu over a five to ten-year period. Many people are not happy with the King policy.

"The Government should pay for vaccine manufacturers to stockpile vaccines. Similar vaccines should be developed for farm workers who are in contact with poultry. Surely, if the French decide it is economical to protect their foie gras industry by vaccination, there might be circumstances where vaccination is appropriate in the UK." See PROFESSOR GEORGE G. BROWNLEE, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford March 3 2006 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2066702,00.html Most stakeholders' views in January 2006 were that vaccines were not needed. Now, those views are shifting. Free range egg producers are questioning whether they can shut up their birds for thirty days. The situation in Germany is that birds have been confined for much longer, and welfare problems do ensue. The BVA already supports a policy of vaccinating birds outdoors in the event of an outbreak.

Surely at the time that Europe, for the best welfare reasons, is trying to get rid of the old cage system for egg production we do not want to stop the expanding free-range industry in its tracks. A policy for vaccination should be in place, and a vaccine bank, in case vaccination is needed. It is essential to have the policy and a vaccine bank in place in the event of an outbreak. For preventive vaccination, each country has to present a plan to Brussels. Drawing up such a plan, approving the plan, and ensuring that there is a working vaccine bank takes a great deal of time.

Hi-tech live burial And do we want to deal with emergency mass culls that a vaccination policy would help avoid? Certainly the suggestion in the Commons under Margaret Becket, Minister of Agriculture, that ventilation shutdown is an option in an emergency, has not been well received by other MPS such as James Paice.

In the USA too, people have been horrified by the live burial and burning of birds in crises in the Far East. The latest suggestion for despatch, apparently already tested in the USA, is that infected, housed birds could be smothering with foam. Surely this is just hi-tech burial of birds alive? Most consumers would not support these possible emergency measures if they actually knew the outcome, and that vaccination helps avoid these issues.

Hi-tech vaccines to beat the problem Reported by Reuters, leading influenza experts urged nations not to lower their guard against the hardy H5N1 virus, saying it now survives longer in higher temperatures and in wet and moist conditions. Scientists previously found the virus to be most active and transmissible among birds in the cooler months from October to March in the northern hemisphere, and people do hope for some respite in the summer months.

Influenza expert Robert Webster warned against complacency. "When we tested the virus in Hong Kong from 1997, the virus was killed at 37 degrees Celsius in two days. The current H5N1 is still viable for six days at 37," said Webster, from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the U.S. city Memphis."

"H5N1 at room temperatures can stay (alive) for at least a week in wet conditions," Webster told Reuters on the eve of a bird flu conference organized by the Lancet medical journal in Singapore. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/detail.asp?ID=81527&GRP=A Reported from the Rome 2006 by the BBC, delegates also heard an impassioned plea by Dr Webster for the use of vaccines to control the disease in domestic poultry. He said that it was absurd that vaccines were not used. The global poultry industry is recognized as the main cause of transmission of H5N1, but migratory birds have certainly played a role. Webster said that good vaccines are available, and that using vaccines was of far greater importance in the developing world. The wealthy countries, he said, can afford to cull their infected birds; the poorer simply can't. "The science allows us to make superb vaccines for poultry - let's use them for God's sake."

In the words of the PNAS 2006 paper: 'The destruction of infected poultry alone is no longer considered the method of choice for the control of this disease. Recently, the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recommended that vaccination of poultry be considered for the control of AI.'