Abstract
The avian influenza outbreak in Suffolk has cast an uneasy light on the public health risks of modern poultry production practices
What is the root cause of the outbreak?
Although the infected processing plant reopened last week, government investigators are still trying to root out the cause of H5N1 virus outbreak in Suffolk, which led to the culling of 160 000 birds earlier this month.
Initially, the finger of blame had pointed to the infected droppings of migrating wild birds. There had been an outbreak of H5N1 among captive geese in the Csongrád region of Hungary in January, but there was no obvious link to the outbreak at the Holton farm, which is owned by UK poultry tycoon Bernard Matthews.
By the eighth day of the outbreak, genetic tests confirmed that the Suffolk virus was the same pathogenic Asian strain found in Hungary. That in itself didn't prove that there was a direct link; the infection still may have come from a third country. But it had also become clear that Matthews not only had a processing plant in Hungary but that a consignment of partly processed turkeys, originating 30 miles from the source of the Csongrád outbreak, had been delivered to the Suffolk plant days before birds there had started getting sick.
The key question asked in the press at this point was, how could the virus have transferred from poultry meat imported from Hungary into live birds at the Holton farm?
According to the Telegraph, “Because imported meat is kept cold, any virus would have survived the journey.” The Sunday Times reported that government investigators were examining whether any such infected meat was then left out in the open in Suffolk. “If the meat was infected, the virus could have been picked up by wild birds and rats and carried into the rearing sheds and the wider countryside.” Other possible routes of infection are dust, feathers, and dirt on vehicles, equipment, packaging, or the boots of workers.
Is H5N1 in the human food chain?
Despite saturation coverage of the bird flu outbreak, there have been no signs of panic by the media, or from consumers, about the safety of eating poultry and eggs. The Food Standards Agency's advice is that properly cooked poultry, even if it is infected, is safe to eat.
No Bernard Matthews branded goods have been recalled from the shop shelves. The Times reported a drop in poultry sales of only 10% at supermarket chains Sainsbury's and Morrisons, and Tesco claims only a slight reduction.
Andrew Wadge, chief scientist at the Food Standards Agency, posted comments during the outbreak, emphasising that there was currently no threat to public health. “As far as bird flu goes, the science shows that it isn't contracted by eating food. Flu viruses rely on receptors in the body to cause illness, and those that flu latch onto are generally found in the respiratory tract. Those people who have contracted bird flu—currently about 270 worldwide—have been in very close contact with sick birds.”
Even if someone did eat an infected product, a number of factors should prevent them from becoming infected, he added. “Firstly, cooking meat thoroughly is more than enough to kill the virus. Secondly, the body has a number of other barriers that would protect us, including saliva, gastric acids, and the lack of suitable receptors in the gut.”
Media reaction
Officials continue to investigate possible breaches of biological security measures at the Holton farm, but the exact cause of the outbreak may never been known. The scare has given rise to questions in the media over where the main threat to public health lies. Was the blame initially put on wild birds to keep the reputation of big business farming intact?
Under the headline “Time to ruffle some feathers,” an Independent opinion article collared intensively farmed poultry as the main health risk. “Industrialised farming not only involves large, overcrowded flocks of potentially contagious birds, but poultry products are transported around the world, sometimes in poor conditions and with poor bio-security. This means a hard look at the scale and intensity of what is becoming a global business is needed.”
In the Sunday Times, an unnamed ornithologist and government adviser said the wild bird link had always been unlikely. “I find it quite incredible. Everybody who knows anything about birds would be shocked if this was the source. They would be scratching their heads and going ‘man, this is bizarre.'”
The health scare has also ignited concerns about food labelling. Under UK law, food that is processed in the UK can be labelled as made in the UK. Hence, a turkey reared in Hungary but processed in the UK can legally be sold as British meat.
The Telegraph, in a critical feature called “Not Made in Britain,” questioned the ethics. “For millions of people, cheap white meat has replaced red meat as a healthy option. But the truth is that cheap white meat comes with a hidden price tag. As we are now seeing.” An Observer editorial warned that “Bird flu is the price of your £5 roast.”
The outbreak also gave rise to some wild speculation, including an alarming story in the Sunday Times: “If bird flu grips the nation, doctors will need guns.” This item suggested that doctors treating patients who had avian flu may need security guards to shield them from violent relatives should they be forced to decide which patients to prioritise during a pandemic.
What next?
The outbreak comes during a “relative lull in cases” in European poultry, according to Reuters, since hundreds of turkeys were infected and died in France last year. Although the UK outbreak had the potential to become lethal—if the virus had developed the ability to spread to humans—the real threat from avian influenza lies elsewhere, in the developing world, commentators warned.
In a leader article, the Observer said: “While governments in rich countries have been worrying about whether or not their millions of doses of vaccine will suffice, virtually nothing has been said about the fate of poorer countries. Deaths from bird flu in developing countries are almost certainly going undiagnosed. Indonesia suffers regular human deaths from bird flu, but has not implemented basic quarantine measures. China is stubbornly closed to international attempts to track the disease. Already blighted by Aids and malaria, many African societies may be devastated by a flu pandemic.”