Bird flu: the danger is far from over

A few months ago, vaccines and bird flu protection were being stockpiled against a contagious disease which had authorities on the alert, but whatever happened to bird flu?

From the man in the pub to the 10 o'clock news, it was a subject on everyone's lips. It threatened to destroy the economy and kill one in six of us, but then everything went quiet.

Does it still pose a widespread threat to public health? Or has it joined the ranks of former apocalyptic conditions like SARS or necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating bacteria) as an over-hyped scare story?

A little over four months ago, the UK was bracing itself against the threat of a deadly virus which, after sweeping its way through Asia and Europe, had washed up on British shores.
A dead swan, found floating in the harbour of the picturesque Scottish coastal village of Cellardyke, Fife, had tested positive for the lethal strain of H5N1 avian flu.

Although the H5N1 virus, essentially a bird disease which cannot be passed easily to humans, was not thought to pose a large-scale public health risk, medical experts feared that if the virus mutated and made the jump from birds to humans, it could trigger a global flu pandemic, potentially placing the lives of millions of people at risk.

In the months prior to its arrival in the UK, spurred on by sensational headlines, people panic-bought antiviral drugs such as tamiflu (often from illegally-operated websites supplying fake and potentially dangerous products), "bird-flu" respirator masks and hastily-produced survival guides, hoping to better protect their families when this new "plague" struck.
And then … nothing.

The swan, initially believed to be a native Mute Swan, was later correctly identified as a Whooper Swan, a breed which originates from outside of the UK. Experts were unable to tell if the bird had contracted the disease within the UK and many believed it contracted it elsewhere before dying out at sea and its body being washed ashore in Scotland.

To date, no other birds in the UK have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian flu.
Within a month of the dead swan being discovered, the protection and surveillance zones set up around Cellardyke, which restricted the movement of poultry and eggs, were lifted. Poultry producers, fearing a catastrophe of similar proportions to the foot-and- mouth crisis of 2001, breathed a sigh of relief.

But the war against H5N1 is far from over.
According to Andre Farrar, spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), citing a recent flare-up of the disease in South East Asia and a human death in Thailand: "The problem never went away. Journalists just lost interest in the story and moved on to other things."
Mr Farrar said: "Although the situation doesn't appear quite as alarming as it did last year, nothing has really changed. It's still in central Asia, parts of Africa and Eastern Europe."
Fears of diseases passing from animals to humans were heightened recently when a 29-year-old farmer John Freeman died from blood poisoning after developing rabbit flu. There was also the death of a man in Scotland from anthrax which it is thought he may have contracted through spores on imported animal skins which he worked on at his home.
To date, the bird flu virus has been detected in 14 European Union member countries, with Spain being the latest country to detect the virus.

Central and Eastern Europe has been particularly badly effected. Hungary has had 20 suspected and confirmed cases of H5N1 in domestic birds and culled in excess of 500,000 birds to prevent the spread of the disease.

A message posted on the British Embassy in Budapest's website states that the risk to visitors to the country is very low, but that they should avoid visiting live animal markets, poultry farms and other places where one might come into close contact with domestic, caged or wild birds. They should also ensure that poultry and egg dishes are thoroughly cooked.
Elsewhere in Europe, imports of poultry from Romania have been banned and, although there have been no human deaths from the disease within the EU, four fatalities have been reported in Turkey.

Warning that "vigilance is key", Mr Farrar placed some perspective on the issue, saying: "This is still a bird disease."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) warns: "In the light of the global spread of avian influenza there is a constant risk to the UK from a variety of different pathways, such as legal and illegal trade, and we have measures in place to mitigate against this risk (eg, biosecurity, import controls, quarantine)."

According to Defra, the risk of infected wild birds reaching the UK was reduced during the summer months due to migratory patterns.

Revising their policy for the reporting of sightings of dead birds, Defra urges people not to report individual bird deaths, stating on its website: "If you find die-offs involving three or more dead birds of the same species or five or more dead birds from different species in the same place, you should contact the Defra Helpline and choose the avian influenza option."
Mr Farrar of the RSPB, however, recommends that any unusual sightings of dead birds should be reported. He said: "If you see a dead bird where you would normally expect to see one, like underneath a power line or beside a road, there is no need to report it. However, if you have walked your dog along a river bank for the last three years and never seen a dead duck floating in the water before, then it's definitely worth reporting."

In light of the potential risk of disease, the Department of Health recommends that you never touch a dead bird with your bare hands and wherever possible leave it alone.
Defra's notification policy is expected to again be revised towards the end of August or the beginning of September when migratory birds will again begin to arrive or pass through the UK.

Confirming the continuing threat from the H5N1 virus the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently published a report highlighting the need for governments to intensify preparations against a possible influenza pandemic.

While the report confirmed that avian flu currently presents only a low risk to humans, it highlights growing concerns about the spread of the virus in Asia and Africa. As a greater number of humans come into contact with the virus its chances of mutating into a human pandemic virus increase.

Zsuzsanna Jakab, director of ECDC, said: "The spread of H5N1 across Africa and Asia means more people than ever are now being exposed to it. We do not know for sure whether 'bird flu' is going to mutate into a human pandemic virus. However, we are getting nearer to finding out."