Vet Given Bird Flu All Clear

One of the vets called in to assist in the recent UK bird flu case was reported to be suffering from a respiratory illness that had many people worried that he may have in fact contracted the H5N1 bird flu virus. The good news however is that following tests done by the Health Protection Agency he has been found to be in the clear and that he is just suffering from a mild flu.

The outbreak that happened ion a Bernard’s Matthews farm in Suffolk involved many vets and health workers from Defra who were immediately called to deal wit the problem. A Mass cull of the infected birds was started and in all over 160,000 birds was killed.

The number of countries who now say that they will not accept imports of poultry from the UK is growing and now Ukraine, Japan, Russia, South Korea and Hong Kong have banned them. The EU said that this action was unnecessary and that these countries were overreacting to the problem. To date no member of the European Union has imposed a ban on the import of poultry from the UK.

The chances of the H5N1 bird flu virus infecting a human are very slim but it can happen and that is why precautions need to be taken. In the Far East around 150 people have died from the virus that can be caught by people who live in very close proximity with poultry that has been infected. It is also thought possible to get the virus from eating infected birds.

Sales of chickens and other birds on supermarkets have dropped drastically since the announcement of the bird flu case in the UK and sales of all types of flu medication have risen especially for Tamiflu and Relenza that are known to be the most effective treatments for the virus.