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Avian Flu

rose to ask Her Majesty’s Government whether adequate safeguards are in place to deal with a potential outbreak of avian flu. The noble Baroness said: My Lords, my intention in seeking this debate was to put an end to the scare-mongering that has been going on in the press by eliciting the facts; to obtain an accurate guide of where we are now; to examine what happened hitherto to learn from the mistakes that have been made; and to point the way forward. We much regret the announcement of two further deaths in China. I am very grateful to all noble Lords who will speak in this short debate today. I shall listen with interest to their contributions and I know that they will cover different aspects of the work within Defra and the Department of Health. I am sure that our debate will underline the need for those two departments to work closely together. On 26 October, the Government made a Statement which was repeated in this House. The virus H5N1 had been identified in a quarantine centre. We now know that the original source was not a parrot, as was originally claimed, nor a second parrot, but one or more of the other birds from which samples were examined simultaneously. The Statement also referred to the deaths of some birds before 16 October. On 22 October, an investigation into the sequence of events leading to the deaths was begun. Of those dead birds, 32 were in the freezer awaiting collection by a veterinary inspector. They had been there for at least a week. The Statement that we heard that day from the Minister covered several issues, which I shall slightly abbreviate. The quarantine centre was holding consignments of exotic birds from both Taiwan and Suriname. Since July, there had been increasing reports of outbreaks of avian flu—influenza—in wild birds. We also recognise that the contingency plan for avian flu was laid before Parliament this July. Following the Statement, the EU banned the import of live birds until 30 November. I understand that that has now been extended to 31 January, which is welcome. Methods of increasing vigilance against illegal imports were now being examined. Most bird fairs, markets and shows were banned and a register of all commercial poultry producers would be introduced. They were fine words and, had the problem not worsened since July, I may have been able to accept that there was no urgency. In fact, it was four months from that July until we had the Statement. It might be said that Defra dithered. I am sure that the Minister would not agree. So I must ask him why it was that four months passed before basic precautionary strategies were in place. Why was a ban on live imports not put in place straight away? Why was not great emphasis put on stopping illegal imports? Why was not a register of commercial flocks put in place at that stage? I understand that, as the Minister told me on that day, there is no such register. Why wait four months when the outbreak was continuing to spread? Today gives the Minister a chance to update us on the measures taken and to reassure us that there has been a thorough investigation into that quarantine centre and into the regulation and control of quarantine. I am especially concerned that all quarantine centres will by now have been inspected by a competent person; that surveillance at Heathrow and any other authorised entry point will have been strengthened; and that anyone caught smuggling live birds into this country will be arrested, charged and prosecuted and that the officials at the country of origin have been informed and requested to discourage further such traffic. On 14 November, I put a Written Question to the noble Lord asking how many illegally imported exotic birds had been seized each year from 2002–05. In 2004, 2,922 birds were seized. How many arrests have been made? How many successful prosecutions have taken place? What is the maximum fine that can be given? I should like to share some figures elicited on 7 November from Ben Bradshaw by my honourable friend Jim Paice. The EU-wide computer system—TRACES—reported imports in 2004 of 67,480 captive birds, 98 per cent of which—66,586—came into the United Kingdom. In 2005, to date, we have imported more than one hundred thousand birds, which are legal imports counted by the system. What is going on? Who is importing those birds? From whence do they come? Are all of those birds quarantined? Are the premises safe? More importantly, are records kept of their final destination? The vaccination of birds likely to suffer from avian flu was raised in another place after the Statement was made. The Secretary of State made the point that no authorised vaccine was available. Is any vaccine for birds available? If so, can it be authorised quickly? The Secretary of State stated:"““If a suitable vaccine were used, birds would have to be vaccinated twice with a minimum three-week separation period. Poultry would be dead then anyway, because there is a seven-week life span.””—[Official Report, Commons, 26/10/05; col. 313.]" I did not follow that. To what was she referring? Perhaps the Minister will tell me further. If, within Europe, there is no vaccine for birds, why has China announced a massive vaccination programme? Can the Minister tell us what they will use and where they have obtained their supplies? It may be that China has cornered the market and that Defra is unable to source vaccines because we acted so late. The statutory instrument introducing the emergency regulations came into effect on 28 October. Under it the Secretary of State may declare flu prevention zones, which may cover all or any stated part of the country. But there is no basic rule, such as ““within five kilometres of a reported suspect””. How will those zones be communicated? For those of us involved with the foot and mouth outbreak, it was widely known that if a case was confirmed on farm X, all the animals up to three kilometres away would be culled. Should there be something similar for avian flu? The roles of vets in tackling an outbreak will be critical. The BVA has been closely involved. Its president, Bob McCracken, has given radio interviews stressing that the threat so far is to birds. There is, however, a danger that everyone who works with infected creatures might be at risk. What measures are in place, in preparation and under investigation to protect people who work within the poultry system? On 17 October, the noble Lord, Lord Warner, who is no longer in his seat, repeated a Statement on avian flu. I know that other noble Lords will speak further on the health issue. But I want to highlight two or three points that he raised. Has a list of key workers been identified for the allocation of any vaccine for humans that is available? When the outbreak was first discovered, what information was sent to primary care units? Have the Government ordered basic supplies, such as gloves, needles and face masks? I understand that France already has 600 million. There are many questions which we could press. Today, we hope that the Minister will be able answer some of them. I am very grateful to all noble Lords who have put their names down to speak.