Vet in bird flu scare awaits test results

Tests will reveal today if a vet involved in the bird flu outbreak in England who is suffering from a mild respiratory illness has caught a potentially deadly virus.

It was revealed yesterday that the State Veterinary Service (SVS) vet had been admitted to Nottingham City Hospital and was undergoing tests. The results are expected to be known today.

In a statement yesterday, Nottingham University Hospitals said: “All the necessary infection control measures are being followed and there is no risk to other patients in any part of the hospital.

“The worker’s condition is causing no immediate concern.”

It added that the Health Protection Agency’s laboratory was carrying out various tests to establish the cause of the worker’s illness and that the results are expected today.

The vet fell ill after working at the Bernard Matthews farm where the outbreak has occurred in Suffolk.

In a statement yesterday, a HPA spokesman said: “The Agency will be carrying out various tests to establish the cause of the worker’s illness, one of which will be for H5N1 avian flu.

“However, it is thought unlikely that the worker has been exposed to H5N1 avian flu as they will have been following strict protective measures concerning clothing and hygiene and were also prescribed antiviral drugs.”

The HPA spokesman was unable to say whether the vet was a man or a woman.

Bird flu expert Professor John McCauley, of the MRC National Institute of Medical Research, said yesterday: “There is no need to panic.”

The priority would be to establish whether or not the vet had caught the H5N1 virus, but with swift treatment the situation could be contained, he said.

In 2003, a Dutch vet died after handling infected birds, although he was infected by the different H7N7 strain, Prof McCauley said.

Dr John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the HPA, said: “It should be remembered that chest infections and fevers are common in Europe at this time of year, when ordinary seasonal flu circulates.”

A Defra spokesman confirmed that the vet concerned was an employee of the SVS.

He said: “We understand that this is being investigated purely as a precautionary measure.”

A spokeswoman for the Strategic Health Authority in East Anglia said staff were monitoring the situation of the person in hospital.

“All we can do is to wait and see whether or not it is a confirmed case,” she said.

Bernard Matthews yesterday defended its handling of the outbreak.

Commercial director Bart Dalla Mura said the company had no idea the turkeys were suffering from bird flu until the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) told them last Friday.

He said: “We heard the birds weren’t well on Wednesday, the mortality increased a bit more on Thursday and that is when our vet said ’I’m going to contact the next stage of the line’.

“The last thing we thought is that they had avian flu.”

He added: “Only when the mortality went up on Thursday did the possibility of it being avian flu came to light.”

European Union veterinary experts were told yesterday that the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk was unlikely to be linked to one in Hungary last month.

EU spokesman Michael Mann told reporters the expert panel was being debriefed by British veterinary officials on the outbreak at the turkey farm, but was unlikely to take added safety measures at this point.

Mann also chided Russia and Japan for applying bans on British poultry imports in the wake of the outbreak, saying they were unjustified.

The 27-member veterinary panel was holding talks to assess public and animal safety measures taken by British health officials following the outbreak.

Mr Dalla Mura yesterday said there was “not a remote possibility” the outbreaks could be linked.

Bernard Matthews owns Saga Foods, Hungary’s largest poultry company, which is 165 miles from the place where an outbreak of the H5N1 virus occurred in a flock of geese.

“Our farm is about 160 miles away from the outbreak and vets agree it is just not a source of questioning at all,” Mr Dalla Mura said.

“There is not a remote possibility it would have happened in that way.”

Mr Dalla Mura said the virus could have hit any flock, whether free-range or factory farmed.

He said the infection was confined to one out of 22 sheds and there was no evidence it had spread to any other turkeys.

The farm will reopen once Defra gives it the all clear.

Mr Della Mura said the source of the outbreak remained a mystery, but a wild bird getting into the turkey pens remained a possibility.

Compensation from Defra would not cover the cost of the birds that had been culled, he added.

He said Bernard Matthews birds were home grown.