Bird flu - Poland's veterinary services on alert
Poland's veterinary services have been put on alert following the outbreak of a dangerous bird flu strain in Kazakhstan and Russia. According to the latest reports, the peak of the disease is over in the two countries, but experts say it may surface elsewhere. And there are fears Poland might be vulnerable because millions of migratory Siberian birds pass through the country each autumn on their way West.
Containers where passengers from outside the European have to throw in meat, have been placed at most of Poland's airports. Special bins for meat are also standing at the border crossing into the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. But these measures may prove insufficient. The disease may be brought to Poland by migratory wild birds - says interior and administration minister Ryszard Kalisz.
"Bird flu is spreading northwards, but there is a justified possibility that it will start spreading to the west and surface in the EU countries, among which Poland is at a direct risk. I'd like to stress that we are speaking here about avian influenza."
An alarm has been sounded by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Its chief vet Joseph Domenech believes the threat is real and serious. "If the virus is coming from wildlife, then next year or the year after it could happen that it goes to Western Europe," he said. The autumn migrations of wild birds are beginning and Poland is on their way. Krystyna Stachura from the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds:
"There are several species that are absolutely wonderful and especially white geese and ducks which migrate from Siberia and on their way they stop in Poland. Migratory birds tend to converge on large rivers, valleys and river mouths, like the Warta river mouth, for instance, the Vistula Valley or the Biebrza valley."
Come October tens of thousands of Siberian geese are expected in the Warta River Valley National Park in western Poland alone. The park workers have been put on alert. What do bird experts recommend?
"Any possibilities of contact between wild migratory birds and domestic poultry should be limited. In Poland there are many places where domestic flocks are allowed to feed freely and there is a possibility to mix with wild birds, so this risk should be limited."
"We are testing serum samples sent to us from poultry farms from various parts of Poland. The samples are from chickens, ducks, geese and so on. We are also checking wild birds. Forest rangers and hunters have been alerted and they are sending us samples from dead wild fowl, especially if they come across a large number of dead birds in a given place."
About 100 people have died from bird flu in the world since 1997. But no case of its transmission among humans has been registered. Last March a committee for bird flue pandemics was created in Poland with the task to monitor the situation here.
