Hygiene controls needed to combat bird flu – France
by Ek Madra
The Star, 25 Mar 2006

PARIS (Reuters) - Wild birds can be ruled out as the cause of the bird flu virus outbreak at a French turkey farm last month, with an inquiry into the case underlining the need for strict hygiene controls, food agency AFSSA said on Friday. 

"In view of the way the animals were confined in this farm, the entrance of wild birds into the building as a source of contamination seems very unlikely," AFSSA said in a summary of its inquiry released on its website. 

"The animals' contamination very likely had an indirect origin," it added. 

An AFSSA spokeswoman added that the virus could have been carried into the building by a domestic pet, via farm equipment or by humans. 

This showed that strict hygiene controls were needed. 

At the end of last month France discovered an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus at a farm in the department of Ain, which had more than 11,000 birds. 

The case marked the first and only time so far the virus has spread to domestic farm birds in the European Union. 

It dealt a heavy blow to France's poultry industry, worth six billion euros a year, with sales falling some 30 percent after the discovery.  Since then French poultry sales have recovered slightly and are now around 7-10 percent down on the same period last year. 

In an additional sign that the bird flu scare may be waning in France, the French farm ministry said on Friday the security zone around the infected turkey farm would be lifted on Monday, four days earlier than originally planned. 

A ministry official said the authorization had been given by the European Commission in light of the progress made to control the spread of the disease.