July 22, 2005

EU imports UK poultry despite Newcastle disease
 

The EU will still import live poultry, poultry meat and eggs from the UK as the Newcastle disease outbreak appears to have been contained, said an EC spokesperson for health and consumer protection.

On Jul 15, the UK's department for the environment, food and rural affairs (DEFRA) banned non-EU exports of live birds, hatching eggs, meat and eggs to all countries after a Newcastle outbreak was found in a farm of 9,000 pheasants in Surrey, southern England.

Outside the EU, the UK exports mainly cheaper cuts such as chicken, turkey and duck wings and feet to Asian countries, at a value of GBP114 million or EUR165 a year.

In contrast, the value of UK's poultry exports to the EU market is about four times more, at EURUS$525.78 million annually.

DEFRA has assured that the disease is under control as affected birds are contained in the same place with no large poultry production units nearby. UK's large-scale producers routinely vaccinate their birds against the disease, while birds susceptible to the disease could be vaccinated within a week.

A 10-kilometre exclusion zone has been erected around the infected farm to prevent the spread of the disease. DEFRA has also culled all 9,000 affected pheasants since the disease was found on Jul 12.

Newcastle disease is a highly infectious viral bird disease that is almost always fatal in birds such as geese, ducks, pheasants and ostriches. Humans in contact with infected animals may succumb to conjunctivitis.

There have been eight Newcastle outbreaks in the UK since the 1930s, with the most recent outbreak in 1997. The disease was also detected in California in 2003 and Denmark in 2002.

The EC is currently not considering any measures to contain the disease.