19 million birds slaughtered as avian flu epidemic hits Europe

MORE than 19 million birds have been slaughtered in the Netherlands and Belgium as the struggle goes on to control the avian influenza - chicken flu - epidemic threatening several countries, including the UK.

Birds on more than 1,000 commercial holdings in the Netherlands have been slaughtered within three extensive control zones. A Dutch vet who died last week may have been another victim as, unlike foot-and-mouth disease, the virus can attack humans.

Willie Law, with a specialist poultry veterinary practice in Fife, said yesterday: "The position looks serious. We are aware that this virus is extremely infectious and that it could easily reach Scotland, for example from port to port such as the Zeebrugge to Rosyth ferry.

"We also know, as with the SARS virus, that there is a possibility of virus mutation. This latest strain of avian influenza virus is the most probable cause of the death of a Dutch veterinarian last week and, before that, it was known to cause conjunctivitis, which could pass within members of the same household.

"It has also been isolated from pigs on a mixed farm, although it does not seem to be pathogenic to pigs. It is vital that all poultry keepers maintain the tightest bio-security standards."

In the Netherlands, as well as the millions killed on commercial farms, birds on more than 5,000 "hobby fowl" holdings have also been culled.

In Belgium, outbreaks have been confirmed near Antwerp and Limburg, where there is a dense concentration of poultry and three contiguous control zones about 80km wide have been declared where total slaughter will be carried out.

But in spite of drastic action, reminiscent of the foot-and-mouth slaughter in the Netherlands and the UK two years ago, some veterinary experts believe that reaction to the confirmed cases has been slow.

There has been difficulty in slaughtering millions of birds quickly enough and disposal is a problem for the Dutch ministry of agriculture, which has conceded that the country’s entire 100 million bird population might be slaughtered in an attempt to stop the virus.

The cost of control so far is estimated at more than 100 million and rising while all exports - including live poultry, hatching eggs and chicken manure - have been banned. Before the ban, the Netherlands exported about a million chickens a day.

ALTHOUGH a letter has been sent to all livestock farmers by the Scottish Executive about the ban of on-farm burial of fallen stock from 1 May, it is understood that use of existing collection services or a farmer’s own burial system, as long as it complies with existing bio-security rules, can continue until a UK scheme is in place later this summer.