Bird flu panic grips TT

OVER THE last few years, with global focus on a bird flu outbreak that is threatening to erupt into a deadly pandemic, this country has twice grappled with major outbreaks of diseases at chicken farms that have triggered panic and resulted in the culling of thousands of poultry. Last week, an outbreak of an acute form of Aspergillosis, a fungal infection, at poultry farms in East Trinidad led to the culling of thousands of birds and a sharp dive in chicken sales throughout the country. The outbreak, which caused the deaths of hundreds of birds over a period of several days before the authorities were alerted and moved into action, was first detected at farms in Cumuto.

Outbreaks were later confirmed at a farm in Heights of Aripo and tests are currently being done to determine whether Aspergillosis is responsible for the deaths of chickens at a farm in Tobago. In February 2004, more than 18,000 chickens at a Cunupia poultry farm were gassed to death following an outbreak of Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT), a highly infectious respiratory disease which is caused by a virus (herpes virus specie). That disease spreads from bird to bird through direct contact or contamination of common equipment. In both cases, health authorities ruled out bird flu. Both culling exercises were spearheaded by personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Poultry Surveillance Unit who quickly went on high alert to determine the source of the infections and took swift action to prevent possible environmental and public health crises.

While the country is so far deemed to be safe from bird flu, the authorities are taking no chances. Import controls, strict bio-security measures and vigilant monitoring of birds and poultry across the country have been enforced to reduce the threat of the disease entering the country. The Agriculture, Health, Public Utilities and Environment Ministries are at the forefront of an Influenza Disaster Preparedness Plan aimed at keeping the killer disease, which passes from birds to humans, out of Trinidad and Tobago. In announcing a ban on importation of poultry, poultry products and live tropical birds from Asia and South America late last year, Agriculture Minister Jarrette Narine explained, “We have closed our borders to the transhipment of pet birds and, until further notice, have banned the import of all non-essential, non-food poultry.”

There are concerns, however, that the illegal trafficking of birds from South America could be a possible source of infection. The extent of the bird flu alert in this country was underscored in late November when Newsday reported exclusively that a container of feathers ordered from China for the Carnival season had been barred entry at the Port of Port-of-Spain as a precautionary measure. The shipment was destined for Jimmy Aboud, a Port-of-Spain fabric store which supplies material to several Carnival bands. Manager of the store, Gregory Aboud, said the feathers were ordered before the heightened bird flu alert. He also insisted that the company did not purchase raw feathers and those in the shipment had been treated, dyed and washed for “decorative purposes.” However, the Aboud feather shipment was not cleared for entry. Instead, it was fumigated to eliminate any possible traces of bird flu and sent back to China.

Bird flu, or avian influenza as it is also called, is caused by the deadly H5N1 virus which, over the last three years, has taken a toll on poultry and humans in several South East Asian countries — Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. The virus has also emerged in parts of Europe, including Russia, Greece, Turkey, Romania and Croatia, according to information released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It has infected approximately 130 persons, 67 of whom have died. According to a WHO fact sheet, avian influenza refers to a large group of different influenza viruses that primarily affect birds but can, on occasion, infect other species, including pigs and humans. The vast majority of avian influenza viruses do not infect humans.

The disease, caused by type A strains of the influenza virus, was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago. What makes H5N1 particularly worrisome is its pandemic potential, since it might mutate into a strain that is contagious among humans. If this happens it will no longer be a bird virus — it will be a human influenza virus with great potential of reaching pandemic proportions. At present, the virus does not jump easily from birds to humans, or spread readily or sustainably among humans. The concern among health experts is that H5N1 could evolve to a form as contagious as normal influenza, which is when a pandemic could start. Influenza pandemics are rare but recurrent events. Three pandemics occurred in the 20th century — the 1918 outbreak of Spanish influenza which killed 40-50 million people worldwide, the Asian influenza in 1957 which caused an estimated two million deaths and the Hong Kong influenza in 1968 which was blamed for one million deaths.

Those pandemics encircled the globe in six to nine months at a time when most international travel was by ship. Given the speed and volume of international travel today, the virus could spread more rapidly, possibly reaching all continents in less than three months. Experts agree that another influenza pandemic is inevitable and probably imminent. In Trinidad and Tobago, where poultry constitutes about 88 percent of the meat protein content of the average diet, the latest bird flu panic has already caused a drop in sales of poultry meat.

However, health officials say there is little, if any, risk to consumers purchasing poultry for local supermarkets and groceries which sell frozen or chilled raw poultry. Most cases of bird flu infection in humans are believed to have resulted from direct contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. Reports symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, eye infections, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress and other severe life-threatening complications.