Bird Flu Officials And Bernard Matthews Say Consumers Not At Risk

Officials investigating the deadly H5N1 bird flu outbreak at a Bernard Matthews turkey farm in Suffolk, UK, have said that consumers are not at risk of bird flu.

Also, Bernard Matthews, founder and owner of the turkey meat company, has spoken about the situation for the first time this week.

Matthews, who is 77 and now occupies a back seat in the management of the company has come forward to emphasize that there has been no attempt to keep information hidden from the authorities, "They know what we know," he said to the press.

"It's my name on the packet and I wouldn't let it go out to the shelves if I thought there was anything wrong with it," said Matthews.

The Food Standards Agency (UK) has said they could find no evidence that the turkey products the company was voluntarily holding at its cold stores in Suffolk and Chesterfield contained meat from the zone in Hungary that is currently under a restriction order.

The products can now be released into the food chain, the FSA said.

In the meantime the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has completed tests on the three poultry workers who were showing avian flu-like symptoms. A fourth person who was not in direct contact with poultry was also tested as a precaution.

All four patients tested negative for the virus and are now either receiving normal clinical care or have been discharged from hospital.

A flu expert at the HPA, Dr Jonathan Van Tam said that the risk of the workers getting avian flu was very low because they had followed the correct procedures.

He expects more workers will come forward with flu symptoms because that is normal at this time of year. The HPA will continue to offer seasonal flu shots and antivirals to those who may have been exposed to the virus.

The FSA also reported that the State Veterinary Service (SVS, an agency within DEFRA) has permitted the slaughterhouse at the Bernard Matthews Suffolk plant to reopen after it was cleaned and disinfected according to Meat Hygiene Service standards.

The chair of the FSA, Deirdre Hutton said in a prepared statement that the "investigation so far has not found anything that raises the risk to public health."

The FSA emphasized that this is not a food safety issue. Their advice is that "avian flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers."

"It is still a possibility that infected poultry has entered the food chain but the risk to public health remains low," said Ms Hutton.

A full report on the joint investigation by the FSA, the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) is expected to be published tomorrow.

Yesterday authorities in the Netherlands said they would be lifting a ban on allowing poultry to be outdoors. The Dutch agriculture ministry said the ban was put in place following reports that the deadly strain of H5N1 had arrived in Britain via wild birds.

They said "It can be said with relative certainty that the outbreak in England came about through indirect contact with infected companies in Hungary. The option that the outbreak was due to infected wild birds seems less likely."

The ban will be lifted on 19th February.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) say that the risk of catching the deadly strain of bird is very very small. Only people who have direct frequent contact with infected live birds carry any significant risk of contracting the disease and regulations about hygiene and handling of live birds should be followed to reduce that risk even further.

The EFSA has issued advice (October 2005) on the importance of thoroughly cooking poultry and eggs.

Poultry includes turkey, chicken, duck, goose, and guinea fowl.

Click here for the Food Standards Agency (UK).

Click here for Avian Influenza: Protecting human health from farm to fork (includes link to 7 min Video, World Health Organization)

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today