EC’s Russian ban to curb bird flu

THE European Commission yesterday banned imports of pet birds and feathers from most of Russia in the latest move to combat the spread of avian flu.

The announcement came as European Union health ministers, including Tánaiste Mary Harney, met in London to discuss the issue. That meeting will continue today.

EU veterinary experts also held talks in Brussels to assess if avian flu was spreading further across the continent.

EU spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said preliminary tests by its reference laboratory on a bird flu sample from the Greek island of Chios had proved negative for the H5 strain, but stressed more tests were necessary.

There are 15 types of avian, or bird, flu, the most contagious of which are H5 and H7. The strain currently causing concern is H5N1.

The Department of Health has estimated anywhere between 500 and 10,000 people could die if avian flu reached Ireland and a strain of it passed to humans. Much would depend on the virulence of the strain and the availability of a vaccine to combat it.

But the Department of Agriculture yesterday advised the risk of an avian flu outbreak here remained low.

The Government continues to monitor the threat on a daily basis, and is continually updating the national contingency plan to take account of the safeguards being implemented by Europe.

The latest ban by the Commission follows similar crackdowns on imports from Romania, Turkey and Chios.

It was prompted by confirmed cases of avian flu in hundreds of domestic birds in Tula, near Moscow. The ban covers most of Russia, with the exception thus far of Kaliningrad, Murmansk, St Petersburg, and Karelia.

As of October 10 last, the World Health Organisation had confirmed 117 cases of avian flu in humans, mostly in Asia, leading to 60 deaths.

Experts fear a global pandemic could kill between two million and 50 million people.