October 26, 2005

Taiwanese birds did not bring bird flu to UK
 

The Taiwanese birds said to have infected a parrot in Britain with bird flu were inspected for the flu before leaving the island, and had received a clean bill of health, a Taiwanese official said Tuesday.

Chiang Shien-tsong, the Agriculture Council specialist in charge of disease control, said 185 Taiwanese birds exported to Britain left the island in September only after being issued an official council certificate attesting they were free from viruses, including the H5N1 that has devastated poultry stocks and killed over 60 people in Asia over the past two years.

"Our birds were healthy," Chiang said. "There were no problems with them."

On Sunday, Britain confirmed its first case of bird flu since 1992, saying the virus that killed a parrot in quarantine was H5N1.

Debby Reynolds, chief veterinarian for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said the parrot was likely infected with the virus while it was in quarantine with birds from Taiwan that subsequently died. Tests conducted on the Taiwanese birds died were inconclusive, the department said.

Chiang said British officials should not have assumed the parrot was infected by the Taiwanese birds just because they were in quarantine together.

"They should come up with scientific evidence before making any accusation," he said.

In a related development, Taiwanese Premier Frank Hsieh said the government will appropriate NT$1 billion (US$29.5 million) to set up wire nets around bird farms to prevent the invasion of migratory birds.

Hsieh said Taiwan would also step up efforts to monitor migratory birds for bird flu infections.