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Avian Flu

My Lords, with the leave of the House I shall repeat a Statement on avian influenza made in another place earlier today by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Statement is as follows: ““On Friday my department announced that we had identified a case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in birds held in quarantine. After further analysis by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency we announced on Sunday that the virus was H5N1. We now consider the virus was found in samples taken from two birds—one Pionus parrot and one Mesia. The closest match is a strain identified in ducks in China earlier this year. ““There has been no reported occurrence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the United Kingdom since 1992. The premises in which this event occurred contained two consignments of exotic birds from Surinam and Taiwan. At this stage we cannot say where the virus originated. Our working hypothesis, taking account of the identification of the particular strain, is that the virus is most likely to have come via Taiwan, but it is important to keep an open mind about other possible sources and we are doing exactly that. ““As the House knows, the birds in the quarantine premises were culled by officers from the local animal health office on Friday evening. All those at the premises who may have come into contact with diseased birds were given anti-viral treatment to protect them against risk of infection. ““Since Friday we have been investigating the sequence of events that led to the death of the birds. As we announced on Sunday, some birds had already died in quarantine before 16 October. Thirty-two of these birds were being held in a freezer. Initial tests, which have not yet been validated, identified that H5 is present in some of these birds. We have not yet established the full circumstances of these deaths. However, our standard instructions on deaths in quarantine state that:"      ‘When birds die during quarantine, their carcases must be placed by quarantine staff in a fridge or freezer until the Local Veterinary Inspector can collect them for transmission to the Veterinary Laboratories Agency’." ““Our investigations will continue and we will of course bring our findings to the attention of the House as early as possible. Meanwhile we are taking certain prudent steps to ensure that our protection against avian influenza is as secure as possible. ““First, I want to underline the fact that this incident has demonstrated both the threat posed by avian influenza and the controls that we have in place to meet that threat. The quarantine system succeeded in providing the protection that it is in place to deliver. That is not a reason for complacency, but it is right that we should recognise the swift and effective action that was taken once the disease had been identified. It also means that our disease-free status on avian flu remains unaffected. ““The incident took place against a background of increasing reported outbreaks of avian influenza in wild birds. Since July we have seen outbreaks first in an area of Russia and then in Romania and Turkey. There have been other confirmed and suspected cases in some of these countries and in Croatia. ““We are taking these developments very seriously, but they are not in themselves a cause for undue alarm. Avian flu does not at present transmit easily to humans. But there is concern about the potential for avian influenza viruses to mutate into new forms that might directly affect humans. Such a transmission has not yet happened and indeed may never happen. That is good reason to be very vigilant against the establishment of avian flu. I stress that avian flu is a disease of birds and we receive a number of reports of suspected cases in any normal year, and more than normal for the obvious reasons that people are being particularly cautious this year. ““Moreover, we in the UK, and more generally in the European Union, have worked to establish a good level of preparedness. Our contingency plan for avian flu was laid before Parliament in July. We regularly exercise the contingency arrangements at national and local level and our recent experience of managing a Newcastle disease outbreak demonstrated the fundamental soundness of those arrangements for dealing with a disease outbreak in birds. ““We will continue to build on that good level of preparedness. In response to the specific incident that has occurred in quarantine, we issued instructions to the State Veterinary Service at the weekend that releases of birds from quarantine should now be subject to a case-by-case risk assessment. We understand that about 15 consignments of birds are currently in quarantine. Each of these will be subjected to an individual veterinary risk assessment and referred to Defra headquarters before any decision to release is authorised. ““At the weekend, the Chief Veterinary Officer and I ordered a general review of our quarantine arrangements and procedures to be undertaken. Pending the outcome of that review, we have called on the European Commission to propose an immediate temporary ban on imports of live birds into the EU while we collectively assess the level of risk that they pose. I am pleased to say that the Commission responded very positively to this call and that a ban lasting until 30 November was agreed in the relevant EU standing committee yesterday. ““At the same time, we are especially mindful of the potential threat posed by illegal imports. My department already works closely with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs on the control of illegal imports of animals and animal products. I have asked my officials immediately to address how we can increase our vigilance against the specific issue of illegal imports of live birds. My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity will also be taking up the issue of illegal trade at an EU wildlife trade enforcement event tomorrow. ““We were already actively working with the Commission and other member states to tackle the wider threat of introduction of avian influenza by migrating wildfowl and other routes. As a result of that work, I expect to bring before the House in the coming days sensible and measured regulations which will assist us in reducing the risk of disease and strengthening our ability to control an outbreak. ““These regulations will implement the announcement we made last week about establishing a register of all commercial poultry producers in the country. As we said last week, we shall start the process of registration next month. For non-commercial poultry keepers, we have produced a simple, clear and effective guide to biosecurity. We are actively distributing this guide through lobby groups, veterinary networks, hobby magazines and other available channels. ““We have also decided, with fellow member states, that it is desirable in present circumstances to prohibit bird fairs, markets and shows except where a risk assessment shows that they can be safely conducted. We are in full discussion about this proposal with potentially affected stakeholders. ““Ornithological groups are also very important stakeholders for us and, earlier this month, we reached an agreement with them jointly to monitor wild birds. This is in addition to our existing annual programme of monitoring domestic poultry for avian influenza. ““Finally, the regulations which we will bring before Parliament will give legal effect to provisions in the recent legislation that enable us to instruct poultry keepers to keep their birds indoors. We are urgently discussing this provision with stakeholders. ““In conclusion, I recognise that the public are rightly concerned about avian flu. I am pleased that our quarantine rules worked to identify and eradicate the immediate risk in this particular incident, but because we are not complacent, we are taking the steps that I have indicated both to review and strengthen our protection against legal and illegal imports of captive wild birds, and, in the next few days, we will bring forward the new regulations that I have described””. My Lords, that concludes the Statement.