September 21, 2006

World poultry forum focuses on bird flu

Bird flu, as expected, dominated The World Poultry Forum held in Mexico last week.

The Forum involved the joint annual meetings of the International Egg Commission (IEC), the International Poultry Council (IPC) and a large delegation of Mexican egg and broiler producers.

The forum provided a venue for representatives from organisations such as the UN, OIE, and the USDA made presentations on bird flu. Dr. David Nabarro, UN Senior Coordinator for Human and Avian Influenza, said that there are no simple answer to the problem and it is necessary for the world to work together to tackle the problem.

One common problem is that some countries are not devoting enough resources, Dr Nabarro lamented.

He also added that there should be more top level government involvement in bird-flu affected countries.

The International Poultry Council meeting was attended by more than 60 participants, which included 11 country members and 12 allied members. Major poultry processors and suppliers of the industry were also present.