General Chat

hiya everyone, look's like that bird flu has actually arrived in britain then, sounds scary. i'me planning ahead, starting right now making a food cupboard for extra provisions with non perishable food and vitamins. how does any-one else feel about this. gwen

Since 2003 there has been about 2700 confirmed cases of bird flu worldwide............more people die from 'normal' flu every year. Of course if I was a turkey I might be a bit more worried

I believe that it is not passed on in the food chain as long as you cook the food properly. we had turkey last weekend. i refuse to be panicked. I do hope though that, if it is proved that B Matthews has brought it in via a lorry load of turkeys from Hungary, he is well and truly penalised. Ann Glos

You only have to worry about catching it if you work closely with infected poultry (or other birds?) - hence why they get it where they let the birds roam free. At the moment, there is no risk of me getting it, so I'm not worried. Gone off chicken cos I'm pregnant, but if I wasn't, I'd still be eating it.

Has anyone noticed the price of poultry has increased? I bought a chicken, here in Spain, yesterday and it must have cost about one euro more than normal and I was wondering if this was the affect it would have - general public getting the short straw as per usual. Nary in Spain xx

Mary In my local Tesco yesterday, they were selling TWO fresh chickens, quite large, for £5! I can't say I am all that bothered about it and am certainly not going to change my eating habits. OC

Latest info seems to be it was in imported turkeys from Hungary and confined to one shed at the turkey farm. Any movement of livestock, whatever they are ,can be infected with virus's. I,m not bothered at the mo cos they seem to have taken all precautions and cross infection only happens if you are direct contact with the infected bird. Wont stop me buying poultry and I always make sure,as I,m sure others do!, that i cook poultry right through. The media can get very scare mongering just to make/sell news!! Shirley

I will only worry when the H5N1 virus jumps the species barrier and is able to be passed from human to human - then, I think, we could have real concerns. Every effort should be made, though, to identify and contain the virus in its present form by stopping the spread as much as possible between birds (or bird to human).

no comment am going to bed ive got the flu

Hi, we keep hens as pets and I'm not worried. I'd be sorry to lose them, though. The way they'd catch it is from wild birds landing in the garden so none of us is safe in that case! As for eating poultry, I'm cooking it properly as usual so shouldn't be a problem, apparently.

Absolutely no cause for panic measures, Gwen. As long as food is properly cooked........and poultry should be, at ANY time, there is no risk. You're in much more danger of dying when you cross the road. Reg

Well you should be concerned Mr O! it was over 3 weeks ago when thousands of birds were killed in Hungary - part of the Bernard Matthews chain of poultry farms - how did the virus get into Norfolk? Hardly likely that a passing sparrow crossed from Budapest and called into both Bernard Matthews establishments do you think? why was the vet who attended the poultry farm admitted to our local hospital on Wed. with breathing problems and kept in isolation? (OK so they say it was not connected and that he is clear, but I have a very suspicious mind where the government and DEFRA are concerned). Jacqui (who has just purchased a Wye Valley chicken for sunday dinner from Morrisons - where I noticed Bernard Matthews products were half price - lol)

it wont stop me eating turkey or chicken,we had turkey on weds, K

Don`t panic Gwen, you have more chance of winning the lottery than catching bird flu. DEFRA have banned ALL bird shows and sales. In December 2005 I was to attend a Christmas extravaganza with my birds. DEFRA had again advised all bird shows etc not to go ahead. If they did the rules were so strict as to not be worth the trouble. One of the criteria was.......The organiser of the event had to have the name and address of ALL people attending that venue and to keep that list for three months.....The person bringing the birds had to...1) have a vet on standby, 2) all people attending the event had to disinfect their hands after handling the birds. I contacted the organiser and explained that I was not prepared to attend as i did not want a) my birds put at risk and b) the public. The following week a newspaper carried an advert for the event and listed 'Jo Bloggs and his Owls'......Now I ask you, was the organiser being an r....sol........ Well, the person who took the owls certainly was. As i may have said before, when I take my owls out so the public can see them I have a donation bucket for the Essex Air Ambulance. In previous years the above event has been a very good money earner for the air ambulance so I was particularly p ...d off that I had to decline the event. Kathlyn

I actually think it is a serious topic Mr O - tut tut I wont bore you with the details but at work we have had government issue instructions regarding this subject for some 5 months now - god help us if the virus does spread and humans become infected. anyway, I'm quite safe eating the chicken I bought today because everyone knows that the last time it saw any fresh air would have been Aug/Sept last!!! lol lol Jaqui

I worked for a veterinary practice that had vets who worked at chicken farms, and you would not want to see the photo`s that I saw of such places. Also remember a few months ago a couple of workers at the Bernard Matthews place were done for cruelty to chickens. So, if you want to be kind to animals try buying those that are not reared in factories, and buy free range eggs. Kathlyn

buy from your local butcher.......any decent one will tell you where its been reared etc

I never knowingly buy BM produce but I wonder how many supermarkets sell poultry under their own name that is BM? Apparently he has been bringing in poultry from Hungary and doing the last bit of the processing in England and calling it British produced. According to TV news. Ann Glos

My son in law worked for BM and suffice it to say I will never buy anither product from there. However, I dare say he isn't the only one...... The fact that this outbreak can be traced to turkeys imported from Hungary is proof that this passes turkey to turkey, or bird to bird and is not generally at large in the bird popiulation as a whole. I don't see any need to panic at the moment - and perhaps this will bring forth regulations which stop ANY animal being kept in such unnatural conditions, just so the British Public can have cheap food. OC

I quote from the packaging on the Wye Valley Chicken purchased today:- 'Grown slower for more succulence. Fed on a unique vegetarian diet. Reared on family-run farms in the Wye ~Valley, Approved to the RSPCA welfare standards'. Now pardon my ignorance, but arent' animals reared? where does the 'grown slower' bit come in? And what meat would non-vegetarian chickens eat? pork? beef? lamb? The whole of the food chain has gone potty! Jacqui