Balearics prepares for the threat of bird flu

THE Islands' regional ministries for Health and Consumer Affairs; Environment; and Agriculture and Fisheries have set up a Committee to combat the threat of bird flu. The working party will meet for the first time next week to establish areas of departmental responsibility. Margalida Moner, minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, explained yesterday that the risk of bird flu (or “chicken fever” as it can also be known) occurring in the Balearics is the same as in any other part of Spain because the paths of migratory fowl affect the entire country, including the Islands. As these birds are the principal transmitters of the disease (although they themselves do not suffer from it), it is important to take preventitive action at all levels, said Moner. An operation will be set up for tracing the movements of migratory birds in their passage through the Islands, and similarly for documenting the processes that farmyard fowl and battery produced birds undergo, up until the moment they are purchased by consumers. In terms of departmental responsibility, the regional Environment ministry will be called on to control the monitoring of migratory fowl (which begin their movements at this time of the year). This duty will include tests and analyses to see if such wild birds are carrying the virus. The ministry of Agriculture will set up strict controls on 22 commercially run chicken farms, the selection will include the largest in the industry.
Finally, the Health ministry will make careful checks on the products that arrive on the market for human consumption.
Until now, bird flu has mainly affected southeast Asia, but international health organisations have warned of the possibility of it expanding worldwide through the passage of migratory fowl.