Bird Flu - hygiene precautions to take

by Andrew Barrow, Posted Apr 7th 2006 @ 9:35PM

The World Health Organization advises that in areas free from the disease, poultry and poultry products can be prepared and eaten as usual (following good hygiene practice and proper cooking), with no fear of acquiring infection.

General hygiene rules should be followed when handling raw poultry

those preparing the food should wash their hands thoroughly
surfaces and utensils in contact with the poultry products should be washed throughly. Soap and hot water are sufficient for this purpose

There are no reports of people contracting bird flu (H5N1) from eating eggs of meat from poultry. But the WHO still advises that the the virus may be present in meat and eggs from affected birds. The virus is easily killed by by cooking and, if still present, the virus is destroyed by saliva and by gastric acid, as well as the fact that there are very few receptors the virus needs to enter the body in the gut.

The WHO has a PDF download on combating the disease.

[image from the steeldeal]

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Filed Under: Science, Trends, Ingredients
Tags: asia, bird flu,world health organisation, BirdFlu,worldHealthOrganisation, british isles, eggs, food and drink, food hygiene, FoodAndDrink, FoodHygiene, h5n1, hygiene, poultry