Bird Flu in the UK - poultry sales to plunge?

by Andrew Barrow, Posted Apr 7th 2006 @ 6:01PM

chicken Even though the UK's Food Standards Agency and the European equivalent has stated that it "is not aware of any reports of people getting avian flu from eating poultry or eggs and recognizes that the current risk is from people having contact with live birds that have the disease" sales of poultry are likely to plummet in the wake of the UK's first confirmed outbreak.

Supermarkets have said it is too early to forecast the impact of the virus. Sales of poultry on mainland Europe plunged by 80 per cent in the weeks after cases of avian flu were discovered in Turkey. France said last month its poultry industry, the largest in Europe, was losing £27m a month.

The risk of catching the disease comes from being in close contact with live poultry that have the disease, and not through eating poultry or eggs. Poultry can include chicken, duck, goose, turkey and guinea fowl and the like. An article in the Guardian states The government's chief scientific adviser has insisted that Britain is better prepared than any other country to cope with bird flu.

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Filed Under: Farming, Business, Trends, Ingredients
Tags: bird flue, BirdFlue, british isles, disease, eggs, food and drink, food hygine, food standards, food standards agency, FoodAndDrink, FoodHygine, FoodStandards, FoodStandardsAgency, H5N1, poultry