September 4, 2007

Poultry trade responsible for spreading bird flu, UN says

The main culprit for the spread of bird flu are poultry farms, the UN said Monday (Sep 3).

This was based on research on a global survey on wild birds which confirmed the findings. Samples from 350,000 healthy wild birds in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas have tested negative for bird flu, pointing strongly to the fact that bird flu is spread by the poultry trade. 

Still, experts at a three-day workshop said increased and better coordinated surveillance of wild bird populations was necessary, given that birds from 90 species were found to have carried the bird flu virus in the past. The survey was taken between 2005 and 2007.

Scott Newman, the international wildlife coordinator for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, said there has not been a wild species that would be a reservoir for the disease.

Scientists have long feared that wild birds could spread bird flu throughout the world during their seasonal migration. However, this fear has failed to materialise.

Experts are calling on governments to focus on containing the virus in domesticated bird populations.

It is easy to assume the poultry system is working well when the problem is attributed to the wild bird population, said William Karesh, chief of party for the Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance.