November 18, 2004

Wild Bird Imports May Trigger Next Flu Outbreak

A new report drawn up by a leading NGO has warned that wild birds imported into the EU for sale as pets have spread fatal diseases to livestock, wildlife and even humans.

"The EU stands alone in the developed world for its failure to ban this inhumane, economically risky and environmentally regressive trade," according to Green Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas, who called on the European Commission to implement an immediate, permanent ban on the trade.

The EU Wild Bird Declaration cites the recent outbreaks of avian flu in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, in which 30 million birds were culled and a veterinarian died.  The declaration was drafted by ten conservation and animal welfare NGOs including Greenpeace, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Jane Goodall Institute and the RSPCA.

The declaration argues avian flu remains widespread in parts of Asia and will spread to Europe in birds imported for the pet market unless the trade is immediately banned.

"The EU imports hundreds of thousands of wild birds every year, causing immense suffering and distress to the birds themselves. It also poses serious risks to human, livestock and wildlife health here in the EU," said Dr Lucas, who has asked European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom to publish detailed proposals for banning the trade.

"Perhaps even more astonishingly, the economic interests of the EU, which could lose its entire poultry industry in a single outbreak, are being gambled for the sake of protecting the high profits made by a small number of pet importers. This is madness."