Bernard
Matthews Foodshas urged the UK government and
poultry industry to work together in establishing an early warning
system for migratory birds that may carry H5N1 avian
flu.
Then armed with this knowledge, free range turkey producers
would be able to take measures to avoid contact between wild birds
and poultry.
Delivering his Temperton Fellowship Report "Living through avian
flu H5N1" at the Farmers Club in London, Bernard Matthews Foods'
technical director Jeremy Hall highlighted the trend to free range
Christmas turkeys.
"TV chefs are encouraging consumers to go free range which has
led to substantial growth, now accounting for 15% of the Christmas
turkey volume. But outdoor farming brings risk and the challenge is
to rear turkeys through the highest risk months without any
outbreaks."
One major factor undermining the industry's preparedness is the
lack of information on movement of the virus. He said that while
there was good EU information, the approach was disjointed and data
was only available when 4-5 months out of date.
Mr Hall added: "I remember having meetings with the
British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and I was amazed
by the sophistication of their records and mapping. Using this data
together with satellite tracking system, we would know precisely
when birds start their journey back to the UK.
"But the government needs to put more support into wild bird
testing and monitoring. At the moment, we depend on the good will
of the RSPB and BTO for wild bird surveillance."
Mr Hall believes the common Pochard is the most
likely candidate for carrying and harbouring the H5N1 avian flu
virus.
"Looking at wild birds testing positive, there were mainly Swans
and Pochards. But as swans either migrate short distances, or don't
migrate at all, they are picking up infection from other
species."
In contrast, the Common Pochard travels huge distances to its
breeding grounds in Eastern Russia and China, so spends the summer
in contact with wild fowl in areas known to have a high presence of
infection. And about 84,000 of these return to Britain each
autumn.
