“Migratory Birds and their Possible Role in the Spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza”
This European Food Safety Authority paper concludes that not enough is known/certain about avian influenza in wild birds to ensure that the right public health and commercial protection measures are put in place.
Poultry keepers should increase bio-security measures, there should be more proactive monitoring of wild birds and vaccination programmes should be considered. Trade may need to be restricted but wild birds could be more effective at spreading disease than trade mechanisms and so reduce the benefits of such measures. Migration and movement patterns were too uncertain to be sure of this.
The clearest recommendations were that poultry holdings should not be built in the vicinity of wetland areas and that new vaccines and how to use them, should be researched.
Comment
The definition of ‘wetland’ and ‘vicinity’ would be of interest to anyone concerned about business interruption.
Liability for disease could be traced through trade records.