Bird Flu Expert's Answers

The question and answer session below was first published on the BBC News| website 

You can either scroll down the page to view all of the responses or you can click on one of the links below and the response will be at the top of your page.

Virus expert Professor John Oxford answers your questions about the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk.

 

How did the turkeys catch this virus?|

What if my cat captures an infected bird?|

If the birds are kept indoors, how can they get bird flu?|

Do the birds really need to be culled?|

Does keeping birds in unnatural surroundings lower their immune system?|

Will the turkeys be culled humanely?|

Which wild birds are most likely to be carrying the virus?|

I heard cooking kills the virus, what about pre-cooked meat?|

Why are the carcasses being moved to Staffordshire?|

Why are we reassured this incident is safe when there were so many scare stories last time?|

 

How did the turkeys catch this virus? Ann Mudd, Salisbury

 Professor John Oxford, virologist, London Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry:

 It has most likely come from another infected bird.

 

We know that H5N1 is transmitted silently by migrating birds. The warm weather will have affected their migration patterns. So the chances are that is how it has reached Suffolk.

 

If one of our cats captures an infected bird, will H5N1 transfer to the cat? and will there be a subsequest risk to humans? Graham L, Chesterfield

 Professor Oxford: This has already happened in south-east Asia, so the answer must be yes.

 

But the virus is extremely rare in Britain, so the chances are tiny.

 

I don't believe anyone living outside the containment zone need worry about their cats. If you're living less than a mile from the outbreak, you should be a bit more careful and maybe leave your cat outdoors, in case it has already eaten a bird.

 

Those living further away, if they are still worried, should consider keeping their cat inside until all this dies down.

 

If the birds are kept indoors, how did they get Bird Flu? How can the company assure safety? Andrea, London

 Professor Oxford: It's unlikely that a building could ever be 100% secure. A very small bird could have made it through the ventilation system, for instance.

But the standard of biosecurity must be very high on this site because the infection has been confined to one shed.

 

Why, if the birds are in an enclosed shed, do they need to be culled? Why not let them die? This could mean some birds surviving, meaning they are immune to the virus. Ian Williams, Norwich

 Professor Oxford: The problem with that is that it wouldn't work in practice. You can guarantee that 100% of the turkeys would die, and they would all die a horrible death.

 

Do you think that keeping birds in unnatural surroundings lowers their immune systems?Sarah Patrick, Reading, UK

 Professor Oxford: I suspect it does. I'm not criticising these places but the birds won't be at their prime to resist diseases.

 

I'm looking for one single article or mention on the BBC website about how humane the method of killing these turkeys is, but cannot find any. Some of us care about this as well as the effect on humans. Kitto, Geneva

 Professor Oxford: It's very difficult to kill 100,000 turkeys, not least because you run the risk of getting infected yourself.

 

But people can be reassured that the birds will be treated much more humanely than those which were shown getting slaughtered by being thrown on fires in south-east Asia. They will have to cull the turkeys as painlessly as possible.

 

Which wild birds are most likely to be carrying the virus? April Showers

Professor Oxford: Wild migrating birds like geese, ducks and swans.

 

I heard cooking kills the virus, what about pre-cooked meat? Anon

Professor Oxford: Pre-cooked meat will have been heated and that will have destroyed the virus. It is actually very fragile and easy to kill.

 

Given the warning that this particular strain of Bird Flu is highly pathogenic, why would diseased birds be moved to staffordshire? Sheila Branch, Ely

Professor Oxford: This has been a difficult series of decisions for Defra. The carcasses will have to be moved in steel containers which are totally secure.

 

I suspect this option was the best compromise. They will have thought about it very carefully.

 

Why is it that when a large commercial enterprise gets hit with this it poses little danger to humans, yet when the scare-mongering over Bird Flu was at its height a year ago it seemed a single infected bird was enough to wipe out half the populace? D. McNicholl, Tain

 

Professor Oxford: The dead swan in Fife was in a public place - anyone could have walked up to it. But the most recent case involved a secure site which only affects the people who work there.

 

I don't believe last year's incident was overstated. It was a huge educational exercise: people know now that a dead swan is potentially dangerous.