Brussels, 20/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Agriculture Ministers of the EU have shown themselves to be divided this 20 February on the need to use a preventive vaccine on poultry for the highly contagious avian flu virus (H5N1), which has been discovered in wild birds in seven Member States of the EU (in France since 18 February, then in Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Hungary, which is still awaiting the definitive results of analyses). The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health will on 21 February examine the preventive vaccination plans presented by the Netherlands, which wants to vaccinate birds which are raised in the open, and France, which plans to vaccinate ducks and geese which cannot be enclosed in the wetlands of three départements (Landes, Loire-Atlantique and Vendée). The Council has also analysed the options to compensate European farmers who are heavily affected by the drop in poultry consumption (see other news). At the Agriculture Council, France and the Netherlands defended their preventive vaccination programmes to prevent contamination of farms. It is a measure which is contested by Germany, Austria and Denmark, in particular because vaccinated animals can still carry the virus (and therefore spread it), without otherwise showing any signs of the epizootic.
At a press conference, the President of the Council Josef Pröll pointed out that in the EU, the avian flu virus H5N1 has so far only been discovered in wild birds (swans and ducks). In his view, contamination of poultry farms has been avoided thanks to Community measures taken by Member States. “The disease remains confined to wild birds thanks to the exceptional cooperation between the veterinary authorities in the Member States and the Commission”, he said. He admitted that “opinions in Europe are divided” on the use of vaccines, and he added that discussions on this subject are ongoing, notably among EU veterinary experts. “The Commission is due to examine the experts' conclusions and weigh up the pros and cons of the vaccine”, said Mr Pröll. Bird migrations, it seems, are not the only reason for the virus appearing in Europe, and the virus could be introduced by illegal imports from third countries affected by avian flu, Mr Pröll warned. The Commission has been invited to examine how to prevent such an event, in particular asking travellers from third countries affected by avian flu to fill in a declaration certifying that they are not transporting banned products in their luggage. The Standing Committee will also examine this question, as well as strengthening border controls to combat the illegal entry of potentially contaminated products into the EU.
The Commissioner responsible for public health, Markos Kyprianou, acknowledged that we cannot rule out contamination within EU farms, but in his view there is no reason to “succumb to panic” because there is already EU legislation in place to eradicate the epizootic. He recalled the obligatory cull measures taken last week by veterinary experts in the case of poultry farms (EUROPE 9132). The cull affected the poultry on the contaminated farm and those on neighbouring farms where there were suspect cases. The new measures also envisage the implementation of a protection zone for 3 km around any place where infected poultry has been found and a monitoring zone for a further 7 km. Within this total diameter of 10 km, poultry will be confined. Mr Kyprianou pointed out that avian flu is an epizootic (animal disease) and not a human disease, even though there have been "a few cases” (of deaths) in Asia and Turkey. The virus “passes only with difficulty” from animals to humans and the sanitary and precautionary measures to be taken are sufficient to protect humans from contagion, he said. “There is no reason for European citizens not to consume poultry”, the Commissioner stressed, underlining that EU legislation guarantees that “infected products do not pass into the food chain”.