Culling and movement restrictions

Culling and movement restrictions Cue: If an outbreak of avian flu occurs ordinary people will have a key role to play in controlling it. For example, if farmers notice that their birds have symptoms that could be avian flu, they will need to report this to local veterinary or health centres very quickly. Failure to report could allow a serious outbreak to occur, leading to a much higher number of bird deaths. In Zimbabwe, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ZNSPCA, has launched a publicity campaign, to explain the dangers of avian flu to rural and urban populations. This has involved having public talks in all three national languages and distribution of leaflets and posters. One important subject is the measures that will be needed to control an outbreak. For example, all poultry in an outbreak area will need to be killed, a process known as culling, and the movement of animals, people and vehicles in affected zones will be restricted. Helping people to understand what will need to be done, and why it is necessary, is vital. Glynis Vaughan (pron. Vorn) is the Chief Inspector of the ZNSPCA and a member of the national avian flu task force. She spoke recently to Busani Bafana, who began by asking her to explain the culling process, and which birds would need to be culled if an outbreak of avian flu occurred. IN: ?Culling is the humane method ?? OUT: ??as well as vehicles and poultry.? DUR?N: 4?09? BACK ANNOUNCEMENT: Glynis Vaughan (pron. Vorn), Chief Inspector of the ZNSPCA, talking to Busani Bafana. The interview comes from a radio resource pack on avian flu produced by CTA. Transcript Vaughan Culling is the humane method of destroying infected poultry. By ?infected? we mean both sick and healthy birds. When a farm is infected there are zoning areas, and all birds that fall into those affected zones are humanely destroyed. Bafana Why is it necessary to kill birds that appear healthy? Vaughan If those birds that appear healthy fall into an affected zone that means that they are still carrying the virus, which means that they are highly contagious and can spread it further. So all birds in that zone have to be destroyed to contain the virus in an infected zone. Bafana I would want to find out, who is responsible for culling: the authorities or the farmers? Vaughan ZNSPCA are tasked for the whole culling process and will be assisted by qualified personnel in the form of veterinary surgeons, as well as ZNSPCA staff. All ZNSPCA staff will be trained and qualified in the culling. According to the Zimbabwe task force preparedness plan, all culling will by done by the authorities, not the farmers themselves. Bafana What are the best methods of culling which are also humane and effective? Vaughan The best proven methods for culling that have been approved round the world, are the use of a mixture of carbon monoxide and argon, and gassing the birds, which is the most humane and effective. Obviously unfortunately this is only practical in large scale farming practices, but that is the best method of culling. And then also the mechanical method which you will use for your small chicks and your eggs. Bafana What measures are needed to prevent the culling teams spreading the disease on their vehicles, on their clothes, or equipment? Vaughan The culling teams that move onto an affected area or affected farm will be resident there throughout the culling process, and won?t be moving on and off the farm. Those teams will remain on the farm for the whole culling process and will only move out once they have been disinfected and sterilized. Bafana How then would you build trust between the culling teams and rural populations and, for that matter, farmers? Vaughan The only sensible way, or the logical way, that I can see to build up that trust is by education, which is why we are going out to educate the rural people. Once the rural people know exactly why we are culling and the reasons behind it, then there won?t be this mistrust between the two teams. Bafana If a farm or a village suffers from an outbreak of avian flu, what kind of movement restrictions will be imposed? Vaughan Immediately the farm or village will go into a quarantine where there will be people in charge of quarantining that area or that farm. The quarantine zone falls into three zones. You have your infected zone, you have your control zone which will be under surveillance 24 hours a day, and then you have your disease-free zone. Once those restrictions are in place, full biosecurity measures will be installed in those three zones and will be controlled by qualified personnel. And all movement of people and poultry will be controlled. The biosecurity measures, meaning all vehicles in or off the farm or people in or off the farm have to be sterilized, all records kept of where people have come from originally, of where they are going from that place, and disinfectants in place around the whole farm. No movement of any other animal must be allowed in those areas of zoning. Bafana Inspector Vaughan, why are these restrictions necessary? Vaughan The H5N1 virus is highly contagious and can be carried on your feet, on your clothes, on your hands, and by infected poultry from bird to bird, so it is very necessary to contain that virus. Very strict biosecurity measures must be put in place with disinfectant, and to control the movement of people, as well as vehicles and poultry. End of track.Why culling is necessary, how it should be managed, and what restrictions on movement are needed during an outbreak