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Italian Health Minister Announces Measures Against Avian Flu

Posted on: Thursday, 25 August 2005, 12:00 CDT

Text of interview with Italian Health Minister Francesco Storace by Giacomo Galeazzi, "Storace: Vaccines and super checks against killer virus", published by Italian newspaper La Stampa website on 25 August; first paragraph is La Stampa introduction]

Rome: Blanket checks at [poultry] farms, and vaccines for everyone. In Brussels today the EU is to dictate its guidelines for preventing contagion, but [Health Minister] Francesco Storace is getting ahead of the game and he has announced the package of emergency measures and against the chicken virus which will come out of tomorrow's top-level meeting at the Health Ministry. The measures include: the purchase of stocks of anti-virus medication; quarantine for imported eggs and chicks; bringing forward tests on chickens at birth and not just before they are sent for slaughtering; and extra medical examinations for poultry farm workers.

[Galeazzi] The opposition is accusing you of not doing enough. What is your response?

[Storace] This is unfounded alarmism: we are ahead in prevention measures compared with many other countries in Europe. The Health Ministry, with its technical bodies, is rigorously working on fighting the danger of a pandemic. We are providing the regional authorities and the maritime, air, and border health and hygiene offices with continual updates, including recommendations for travellers bound for the areas which have been hit.

[Galeazzi] Is this enough against the possible hotbeds of infection?

[Storace] No, and indeed we have signed contracts with major pharmaceutical firms for trials of the new vaccines against the chicken virus. We are also looking into the possibility of making quarantine obligatory in the case of eggs for reproduction and chicks from abroad, so as to be able to check that they do not present signs of infection.

[Galeazzi] However, the association of veterinary surgeons is demanding more rigorous checks.

[Storace] That is right. The tests which are already being carried out by local health units on chickens before they are sent to the abattoir, at the end of their cycle, must be brought forward to the first few weeks of the life of the chickens.

[Galeazzi] Is there a shortage of stocks of medication?

[Storace] I have spoken to Economy Minister [Domenico] Siniscalco about the need to immediately purchase large amounts of anti-virus medication, and I already have his agreement. We are at a good stage as regards medication. I want to reassure the public: we have embarked down the right path, and we will make a further impact on security.

[Galeazzi] And for imports?

[Storace] We do not import poultry from the former USSR because we have surplus domestic production. The police is impounding a lot of goods which arrive at ports and airports, a sign that vigilance is working.

[Galeazzi] Is there really a need for the new "Disease Control Centre" [Italian: Centro di Controllo delle Malattie]?

[Storace] The CCM is a useful extra tool against epidemics, with a budget of over 30m euros per year. It is as well to be able to rely on this task force as well, in which the Civil Protection department, the Military Health and Hygiene department, and the regional authorities are working together. It is a way to set in place immediate forms of intervention, in close liaison both with the European Commission and with the UN.

[Galeazzi] What does the government's plan envision?

[Storace] The alert relates to animal safety and food safety. We do not underestimate the dangerousness of the chicken virus, but we have confidence in our networked system (which was already tested in the SARS emergency), based on presences throughout the country, with the involvement of hospitals, of regional authorities, and of the local health units.

[Galeazzi] Are the borders the weak point in the system?

[Storace] At every port and airport in Italy we have already bolstered checks by the veterinary services on goods and animals. In addition, as of October, we will back vaccinations against normal seasonal influenza, also so as to avert the risks linked to the chicken virus.

[Galeazzi] Will we all need to be vaccinated?

[Storace] Yes, the vaccine is useful not only for the elderly and the chronically ill, because vaccination reduces the possibility of co-circulation in the same person of the two viruses, the "classic" seasonal influenza virus and the one which is responsible for the bird disease. Of course, immunization is advised above all for those over the age of 65, and for adults and children with certain basic pathologies which increase the period of post-influenza complications.

[Galeazzi] The Netherlands has put poultry farms under tight security measures. Will you do the same?

[Storace] That seems to me to be too drastic a measure, but, if the situation requires, we will adopt the same measure. I will decide after having heard from health and hygiene experts. Also as regards boosting surveillance of migratory birds, so as to reduce the risk that they might spread the avian influenza.

Source: BBC Monitoring European

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