Swiss Reject Vaccinating Poultry Against Bird Flu

Excerpt from report in English by Swiss Radio International’s Swissinfo website on 20 February; subheading as published:

As France prepares to vaccinate almost a million birds against avian flu, the Swiss government says vaccination only makes sense if the virus is rife.

EU agriculture ministers met on Monday [20 February] to discuss ways to combat bird flu – which has now spread to six member countries – including a Europe-wide vaccination programme.

“In the current situation Switzerland will not vaccinate poultry,” Marcel Falk, spokesman for the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, told swissinfo.

“In our view it would be too risky. If bird flu is introduced to our chicken population, it’s vital that it’s detected quickly.

“Vaccinated animals still get infected and pass the virus to other animals. But they don’t get sick and die, so you can’t recognize if bird flu has been introduced.”

He said vaccination made sense if the virus was widespread, as in Asia, and if it was no longer possible to eradicate it.

“At the moment Switzerland’s goal is protecting its poultry from bird flu,” added Falk.

Ban reintroduced

On Monday the Swiss government reintroduced a ban on keeping chickens outdoors to prevent contact with migratory birds from Africa that might be carrying the H5N1 virus.

Falk described this as “the most important measure to protect poultry” and said the birds would be kept cooped up “until there is a better solution”.

Christian Griot, head of the national laboratory for highly contagious animal diseases, echoed the view that rapid identification and elimination of infected birds represented the best course of action at present.

“It’s true that killing flocks of birds largely eliminates the virus from a particular spot, but it has the disadvantage that every bird ends up dead,” he told swissinfo. [Passage omitted]