just downloaded a load of digestable material from defra this morning , however does not mention any where that hygiene regimes by pest control officers should be introduced ,at the very least to alay fears of our clients .. i think that the pest control officer /technican who attends a pigeon cull then attends a poultry farm would be leaving him self open for a multitude of allegations as we all know our customers hygiene regime is of the very best standard and bird flu could not enter there premises any other way than on a technicans clothes >>>> also DEFRA spokesman assures me that if wild birds need to culled only recognised marksmen will be alowed a licence to kill selected and i qoute (high risk species ) which begs the question with over three hundred thousand migratory wild fowl expected before the end of may ..where will all theese marksmen come from ????????????????
For information: There have been several studies carried out on pigeons and it appears that thay are non- susceptable to avian flu, even to the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain. Summary from one of the studies: Pigeons subjected (through various means) to the virus stayed healthy, did not shed the virus nor did they develop a detectable antibody to the virus. It was considered that the pigeons tested were resistant to an infection with avian flu.
I understand that you are not just talking about pigeons Scubaferrett but your example is not the best in light of the information above. Choose another bird! Blatta
I had the same thought myself about the migratory birds, you can just see it now, everyone who owns a gun lined up along the South and East coast stopping anything that flies!!!!
Not sure what all the fuss is about. The Asians have been living with it for 7 years. Typical of this government to respond by saying they are confident that current measures are more than sufficient to deal with any problems. Harks back to F&M; you can see it now- mounds of charred chickens (no, the missus ain't on a cookery course) and special runway areas where overpaid teams spray all incoming and outgoing aeroplanes with avian biocides. Hey ho...
By Heck Dusty things move on quickly. Sudden change at DEFRA!! Early in Jan 06 still supplying document which states that much work in laboritories has been done and the results seemed fairly clear!! Look on the website following a look at your web links and things now look different! If I could send you the document I have then I would but I don't have your address (you can't send attachments via this site). http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/keptbirds/pigeons-ew.htm My apologies to Scubaferret, looks like a pigeon shoot before a visit can be a problem. Lewis
Bird Flu
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 15:43:59
Latest info from DEFRA.
