UK scientists call for more research into bird flu

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British scientists called on Tuesday for more research into how avian flu is spread from wild birds to domestic poultry.

The proposal is among a number of recommendations made by members of the Science Advisory Council (SAC) of Britain’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to improve contingency plans to deal with an outbreak of bird flu in the country.

“DEFRA should actively consider increasing the amount of effort that is going to go into studying aspects of transmission of the virus—how it is spread from one organism to another,” said Professor Andrew Easton, a virologist at the University of Warwick. 

"We know very little about the ability of the virus to spread between different species of birds,” he told a news conference.

Easton said there was also a lack of scientific data about how the H5N1 avian flu virus can spread to cats and humans.

Britain confirmed a case of H5N1 in a dead wild swan in Scotland in April.

The SAC sub-group on epidemic diseases also called for improvements in the speed in which a potential outbreak is reported and samples tested. DEFRA should also determine, for every group of birds, whether vaccination is an option along with measures to stop the virus spreading.

The relevance of an outbreak of avian flu in wild birds to birds in captivity and the methods of contact between the two groups are also needed, according to the committee.

The scientists also suggested that DEFRA re-examine the impact of protection and surveillance zones around an outbreak.

“We really need to know this science to underpin any policy that will be derived,” Easton added.

Since the re-emergence of H5N1 avian flu in Asia in 2003, outbreaks have been confirmed in more than 48 countries and territories, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). 

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