Bird flu and hire
27 February 2023
As with many unexpected events and potentially serious developments, the ongoing bird flu outbreak could increase demand for hired equipment to limit its spread.
Indeed, it was almost three years ago exactly when the world was coming to terms with what became the Covid-19 pandemic.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or bird flu was first mentioned on the blog back in November when the chief veterinary officers in Britain declared a prevention zone across the country to mitigate the risk of the disease spreading amongst poultry and captive birds.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advises that the risk to the public from the virus – called the H5N1 strain – is very low. Humans rarely contract bird flu but if they do it is usually from coming into contact with infected birds. Hence the prevention plan's focus on keeping poultry indoors and culling birds infected with the disease.
However, scientists across the world are investigating the death of a girl in Cambodia from the virus to establish if she contracted it from birds or from another human. If the latter, there could be a risk of wider contagion.
UKHSA has found avian flu cases in poultry in 174 premises in this country since last October. The association is now modelling the potential numbers of people who could become affected and whether lateral flow tests (remember those during the Covid pandemic?) and blood tests would detect genetic mutations signalling an increased risk to human health.
The Times newspaper today quotes a scientist who advises the government saying that “We absolutely need to watch this one” and that “We need to prepare for the worst but obviously hope for the best.”
Against that rather sombre background, the immediate need is to focus on prevention and limitation, which could create demand for a variety of hired equipment. As was stated in the earlier blog post, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) highlights the need to reduce any existing contamination by cleansing and disinfecting concrete areas, as well as all vehicles that have been transporting poultry and poultry products, as well as by-products, after each journey, ensuring that the wheels, wheel arches, and foot wells in vehicles are cleaned.
It states that pressure washers, brushes, hoses, water and fresh supplies of a government approved disinfectant should be available at all points where people should use them on entering and leaving a site.
Hand-washing, sanitisation facilities and PPE should also be provided for use by staff and all visitors, including contractors and trade personnel. It is also important to keep farm access routes, parking areas, yards, areas around buildings and storage areas clean and well maintained, it says.
Looking ahead in a more positive light, when the Covid pandemic hit there were no suitable vaccines available. However, there are already several candidates for tackling bird flu that might help. Laboratories affiliated to the World Health Authority hold two flu virus strains that are closely related to the H5N1 virus that could be used to develop new treatments.
Photo: Ben Moreland
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