Britain sees risk in bird flu vaccine for poultry

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain took a strong stand on Wednesday against the use of bird flu vaccines for poultry, approved the same day by the EU, saying they could hide and spread the disease.

Britain’s farm ministry issued a statement almost simultaneously with a decision by farm experts meeting in Brussels, who approved a plan by France and the Netherlands, two of Europe’s biggest poultry producers, to vaccinate their flocks.

While the British statement made no mention of that decision, it did say that vaccinating poultry could mask the effects of the disease and make it more difficult to tackle its spread among the poultry population.

"Crucially, though these vaccines protect against disease, they will not prevent birds from becoming infected and shedding virus," Deputy Chief Vet Fred Landeg said in a statement issued by the ministry.

"Because symptoms of disease would be masked, the hidden presence of disease would pose a serious problem," he added.

Independent scientists in Britain, including virologist Nigel Dimmock of Warwick University, have raised similar concerns about bird flu vaccinations this week.

Britain’s organic certification body, the Soil Association, has backed limited, targeted vaccinations but added it was not convinced the French and Dutch mass vaccination policies would be the best strategy.

The deadly H5N1 strain, which has killed more than 90 people and millions of birds in Asia, Africa and Europe, has recently spread to the European Union.

Britain has registered no cases.

Landeg said previous outbreaks of bird flu had been successfully eradicated by early detection, the slaughter of infected birds and the introduction of movement controls.

"However, we of course keep our policy under review as the vaccine manufacturers continue to develop their products," Landeg added.