You are in: home > environment & planning > natural environment >
Natural Environment
Avian Flu - Some questions and answers
Avian Flu is in the news, and there is a lot of concern about what it is and how to avoid it. We have put together some answers to the most common questions and useful links and telephone numbers of organisations that can provide more advice and help. Information and advice is being constantly updated, so it is a good idea to keep checking back occasionally.
- What is Avian Flu – or bird flu?
- Why is there so much concern?
- Why is avian flu serious?
- What would a flu pandemic mean for Devon?
- Can I still eat chicken?
- How is avian flu passed on?
- Where has it come from?
- What is Devon County Council doing about it?
- My neighbour keeps chickens. Am I at risk?
- I have a few chickens. What should I be doing to prevent any risk?
- Avoiding the risk of infection
- I have found a dead bird in the garden. What should I do?
- I feed the ducks in the park with my grandson and feed the wild birds at home in my garden. Can I still do this?
- I want to go for a walk / horse riding / cycling in the countryside. Is this a problem?
- My cat sometimes catches garden birds. Could she get infected?
- Why can’t we vaccinate all our birds against avian flu?
- Will this be like foot and mouth?
- I don’t feel very well. I’m worried I might have flu…
What is Avian Flu – or bird flu?
Avian influenza, AI and bird flu are the same thing (avian means bird). Avian flu is a highly infectious disease that affects many species of birds, including commercial, wild and pet birds. Some strains of avian influenza may have the capacity to affect other animals and humans – particularly those in close contact with poultry.
More information:
[ back to top ]
Medical experts are concerned that the avian flu virus may change, or mutate into another form that could be passed from human to human. If this resulted in humans becoming more easily infected, and if human flu became widespread around the world, then this is termed a flu pandemic. At the moment there is no evidence that the virus can be passed from person to person, but experts are monitoring the situation.
More information:
[ back to top ]
In the very rare instances so far where humans have been infected by avian flu, it is usually through very close contact with poultry. However, if the virus does mutate so that it can be passed between humans, then potentially many more people will be affected, over a much wider area. The virus affects people in different ways, depending on their health and the strain of the virus involved. Some people will only experience mild flu symptoms, but it has the capacity to cause severe respiratory problems and could be fatal in some cases.
More information:
- Defra - Disease factsheet: Avian influenza
- Department of Health - Bird flu and pandemic influenza: what are the risks?
[ back to top ]
What would a flu pandemic mean for Devon?
A flu pandemic is a widespread outbreak of flu in humans. This could mean lots of people being too ill to come to work, with the potential to affect services and businesses. Devon County Council is encouraging businesses to look at contingency arrangements in the event of a pandemic or other business interruption.
More information:
[ back to top ]
Yes. There is no health risk from well-cooked poultry meat, such as chicken or turkey, or cooked eggs.
More information:
- Food Standards Agency - Bird Flu update
[ back to top ]
Remember this is disease of birds, so it is passed on through being in contact with other sick birds, including their faeces, contaminated feed, water, equipment and clothing.
More information:
[ back to top ]
Instances of avian flu have been around for over 100 years since it was first observed in Italy in 1878. The latest strain of the virus is called H5N1, and has evolved in Asia, where most of the outbreaks have occurred in the last 18 months.
More information:
[ back to top ]
What is Devon County Council doing about it?
The Council’s role is to support DEFRA – the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In the event of an outbreak, Defra will coordinate the response at a national and local level.
The Council will help enforce restriction zones around infected premises and monitor the movement of commercial birds within those zones. It also provides information to farmers and those in rural areas, and will assist with monitoring the spread of any outbreak.
Trading Standards, which looks after animal health in the county, has already undergone an emergency planning exercise in 2005 relating to avian flu. The staff of the Animal Health Operations Unit are trained and prepared for an outbreak in Devon.
The Emergency Planning Service is coordinating the Council’s overall response in the event of flu pandemic and encouraging businesses to ensure they can continue to provide their products and services.
Economy and Regeneration are providing advice to businesses about reducing the impact of avian flu and a flu pandemic.
The Environment Directorate covers highways, public rights of way and Access Land, as well as Stover Country Park, the Grand Western Canal and the Tarka Trail. They are providing advice to public concerned about the outbreak.
More information:
[ back to top ]
My neighbour keeps chickens. Am I at risk?
It is most unlikely that unless you are in close contact with your neighbour’s birds, that they pose any sort of risk. If your neighbour has more than 50 birds, he will have been required to register with Defra by the end of February 2006. If he has fewer, he can still register voluntarily. This means the situation can be monitored very closely.
More information:
[ back to top ]
I have a few chickens. What should I be doing to prevent any risk?
As a poultry keeper you will be used to following good hygiene precautions, which are also important in reducing the risk of exposure to avian flu or other zoonotic diseases as they are sometimes called.
How people become infected with zoonotic diseases varies, but it commonly includes hand to mouth contact with contaminated objects, inhaling or swallowing minute infective particles, and in some cases via cuts or by absorbing them through the lining of nose or eyes. The main risk of infection from avian influenza is from close contact with sick and dead or dying infected poultry or contaminated dust and faeces.
[ back to top ]
Avoiding the risk of infection
- Wash hands (and arms if necessary) before eating, drinking, smoking, using the telephone, taking medication, applying make-up, inserting contact lenses
- Cover all new and existing cuts and grazes with waterproof dressings and/or gloves before dealing with your poultry. If cuts and grazes occur, wash immediately with soap and running water and apply a waterproof dressing
More information:
[ back to top ]
I’ve got racing pigeons / an aviary/ birds at home. What should I do?
Talk to your vet for individual advice. Birds can only be infected by contact with other infected birds or through infected feed (see above). If your bird does not leave the aviary, it is very unlikely to encounter a source of infection.
More information:
[ back to top ]
I have found a dead bird in the garden. What should I do?
Defra has very good advice on what to do if you find dead birds in your garden or in a public place. They advise not to touch dead birds without adequate protection, such as disposable gloves, and to follow strict hygiene rules. If you find one or more dead swans/wild fowl (ducks and geese), more than 3 dead birds of the same species or more than 5 dead birds of different species, in the same place, you should contact the Defra Helpline (08459 33 55 77). Currently the Helpline is available between the following hours Monday - Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday - Sunday 9am to 6pm. You will be asked for details of your finding and its location.
More information:
[ back to top ]
I feed the ducks in the park with my grandson and feed the wild birds at home in my garden. Can I still do this?
The RSPB advises that there is only one recorded instance where a human case may have resulted from contact with infected wild birds. The overwhelming majority of the 175 human cases worldwide have resulted from close contact with infected domestic poultry. The disease is currently not easily transmitted from human to human.
Although the risk of contracting the disease from a wild bird is very low, you are advised not to touch any sick or dead birds, their droppings, or water near them.
It is extremely unlikely that avian influenza could be transmitted to people by feeding birds in the garden, but good hygiene at bird feeding stations is sensible, in any case.
More information:
[ back to top ]
I want to go for a walk / horse riding / cycling in the countryside. Is this a problem?
No. We want people to continue to use and enjoy the countryside. If you see a dead bird, follow the advice given before – don’t touch it, report it to Defra. All footpaths, bridleways, coastal walks and cycle tracks in the countryside are still open and will remain open. In the event of an outbreak, paths and access in the immediate vicinity of the infected premises may not be open, but there will be signs to tell you not to use the routes. It will not be like foot and mouth where large areas of the countryside were inaccessible.
More information:
[ back to top ]
My cat sometimes catches garden birds. Could she get infected?
The current H5N1 strain of avian flu virus does not transmit easily from birds to mammals.
However, a few cats have caught the disease through eating infected birds in Thailand and recently a single cat died of H5N1 on the island of Rugen in the German Baltic, but the cat was in an area where hundreds of wild waterbirds had died of the disease.
The risk of a domestic cat in the UK contracting the disease is remote. There has only been one known case of H5N1 so far in the UK, at Cellardyke in Scotland, and the vast majority of garden birds killed by cats are not those species most at risk of carrying the disease. The RSPB, along with the RSPCA, the British Veterinary Association and the Feline Advisory Bureau, urges people not to abandon pet cats (or any other pets); this would be cruel and may have an additional impact on wildlife.
As always, people should observe good hygiene with respect to pet animals, and should illness present itself, consult their veterinary surgeon at the earliest opportunity.
More information:
[ back to top ]
Why can’t we vaccinate all our birds against avian flu?
We can’t vaccinate all wild birds, and many of them migrate, which is why the disease may spread into the UK. Vaccinating domestic birds is possible in certain circumstances, but each bird needs to be done individually, and it takes up to 3 weeks for a bird to acquire immunity. It is not practical to do every bird.
More information:
[ back to top ]
Will this be like foot and mouth?
No. This is a completely different disease. It is transmitted differently and is not an airborne disease. Therefore access to the countryside will not be so restricted, with only the immediate vicinity of infected premises being out of bounds. A 3km ‘surveillance’ zone will be imposed around infected premises that allows Defra & the council to monitor other poultry keeping premises in the area. A 10km ‘protection’ zone will also be in force, prohibiting the movement of poultry, eggs, carcasses, farm machinery and other farm items, except under licence.
More information:
[ back to top ]
I don’t feel very well. I’m worried I might have flu…
Talk to your doctor if you’re at all worried.
More information:
- NHS Direct - Avian Flu - or call NHS direct on 0845 46 47 (24 hours)
- Department of health - Controlling Infection
An explanation of Avian Flu is also available
More information:
[ back to top ]