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Avian Flu

My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lady Byford for putting down this Unstarred Question. In particular, I hope it permits a clarification of the issue of avian flu. As has been said, so much has appeared in the press that it tends to confuse rather than clarify. I wish to deal with four areas of risk: the risk to the national poultry flock in the United Kingdom; operator risks; consumer risks; and the risk, eventually, of pandemic flu. With respect to our national poultry flock, avian flu is endemic in, and out of control in, the Far East, particularly in China, and has been so for the past 10 years. Despite culling and controls, open water contaminated with bird droppings and sewage, which is fed to birds and used for humans too, means that it is no wonder that endemic avian flu is rampant in that part of the world. What must be done to keep avian flu out of the United Kingdom? First, our surveillance must be vigilant and impeccable. I have often said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Our quarantine system must not be found wanting, as was the case with the recent episode of samples being mixed up and false reports made about imported parrots and finches. The possible pathways leading to introduction include migratory birds, the legal and illegal trade in birds brought into the country and bird fairs and shows. What has been done to prepare the country for a ban on captive bird imports, as has been mentioned, increased wild bird surveillance and restrictions on fairs, shows and other gatherings? How secure are the regulations for controlling these? Should avian flu gain entrance to this country, prompt action will be necessary. Infected premises will have to be isolated, all birds in those premises will have to be slaughtered, and this will have to be followed by vaccination. Whatever is done, the United Kingdom must act within the European directive regulations which are the basis of our national regulations. I understand that the present EU legislation is out of date and that a new directive is well ahead and much better than the old one. However, there is still work to be done on it, with discussions taking place in the European Union and with Defra, the department dealing with it here. When will these new directives be ready? How will they improve the possible actions to be taken in the United Kingdom? On the risk to operators, we know that human infection with the H5N1 virus in endemic countries such as China is associated with very close contact with faeces, blood, entrails and carcases. Should there be a need to cull birds if the virus enters this country, a large number of domestic poultry may well have to be slaughtered.What plans are there to safeguard the health and welfare of the personnel concerned? With respect to the risk to the consumer via the food chain, provided that the food is cooked and eggs are boiled adequately, there is little danger. However, as has been mentioned in this debate, it is possible to transmit the avian flu virus to mammals. For example, zoo tigers have been fed infected chicken meat and have died as a result. However, there is no risk to humans provided that the food is adequately cooked. On the human health issue and the infection of humans with the avian flu virus H5N1, human infection is rare. Considering the millions of birds that have been infected and have died in the Far East—something in the order of 700 million—only a handful of human cases—160—have become clinically ill and a proportion of those—60 or so—have died. When one considers the numbers, very close contact indeed is necessary between infected birds and humans. However, the danger lies in the H5N1 virus acquiring highly infectious properties through either re-assortment or modification of its genome and/or re-assortment along with the human influenza virus. Hence, it is important to do all that we can to control avian flu at its origin. It is important to nip outbreaks in the bud, as early as possible. That may not be possible in Asia, because of the present nature of poultry keeping and the difficulty in getting to remote parts of that continent, but in Europe it may well be a different matter. What is being done in Europe? The organisation that could and should be in the lead is the FAO—the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations in Rome. However, it is poorly funded and more funding is necessary not only for the Far East, but for countries in Eastern Europe where the animal health control infrastructure needs strengthening. I hope that the Government will give assistance to the FAO not only for that purpose, but to strengthen the animal health efforts in these eastern countries.