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Italians Given Assurances Over Eating Chicken Despite Avian Flu Threat

Posted on: Saturday, 8 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

Italians given assurances over eating chicken despite avian flu threat

ROME, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Italian Agriculture Minister Gianni Alemanno assured Italians on Friday that they ran no risk of catching avian flu by eating chicken in their own country, according to Italian News Agency ANSA.

"The emergency exists but it's not connected with the eating of poultry or eggs," Alemanno said.

"Avian flu is transmitted in other ways, certainly not by eating cooked meat from Italian chickens."

"We have done everything necessary," Alemanno said, adding that blanket checks were under way in a bid to ensure the disease is kept out of Italy.

The Italian government has also temporarily increased the number of vets available in public health facilities and boost personnel at NAS, the food and health control division of the Carabiniere police.

Italian Health Minister Francesco Storace has said in recent weeks that the government has struck accords with three major pharmaceuticals companies to receive 35 million doses of vaccine against the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

Avian flu has killed about 60 people in southeast Asia since 2003.

Most of the victims caught the virus from infected birds but scientists fear the flu could soon become transmittable between humans, sparking a lethal pandemic.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said here in September that the H5N1 virus, which spread to Russia and Kazakhstan this summer, could spread with the next wave of mass bird migrations.

It stressed that the areas most at risk were southeast Europe, east and north Africa and the Middle East.

According to European experts, up to 16 million people could be affected by a bird flu epidemic in Italy with some two million requiring hospitalization.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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