Poultry Chamber emphasizes that there is no reason to eat less chicken and eggs

That claimed Federico Stanham, executive director of the Uruguayan Chamber of Poultry Processors (Cupra).

“Bird flu is a disease of birds, not humans.with a high impact on productive activity, is the opposite of covidwhere the risk was high for people and insignificant for production”, he remarked.

Bird flu is not transmitted to humans by eating meat or eggs, it is transmitted by direct contact between a person and an infected bird.

Despite that truth, he said, in all cases you have to be hygienic and cook well. “That is something that is always valid, for all cases, not only for poultry meat and eggs,” she pointed out.

Precautionary measures are extreme in fattening sheds.

What never to do

Stanham emphasized that You must “never” touch a bird, be it wild, backyard or domestic, because it generates curiosity to find it dead or because it generates “tenderness” to see it weakened, with little vivacityfor example with the inability to fly.

That goes for a hen that we have in the back of the house to lay eggs or a pet that we have in a cage, such as a canary or a cardinal, to name a few examples.

Stanham said it was “relevant” to prevent wild birds that might come to a site where people keep backyard birds or as pets from ending up drinking or feeding in the same places.

For example, if someone has some hens or chickens, they should find a way to isolate the place where they drink or eat, so that the pigeons cannot reach those same places.

6,000 cases and one human infected

In 12 months, from February to February, there were 6,000 wild birds infected with bird flu in the United States. The outbreaks that were generated in farmed birds required the slaughter of 60 million commercial birds (less than 0.5% of the total in that country) and there was only one infected human being.

“In a country with a lot of viral circulation, with significant damage to production, there was only one infected person who was in contact with sick birds,” Stanham explained.

He added that according to the World Health Organization (WHO) “during 2022 there are less than 10 cases in the world of people infected with bird flu.”

Stanham recalled that there is only one focus in Uruguay, in the Laguna Garzón area and that water is an area in which the virus persists the most. Therefore, urged that everyone who is in that area and returns to their homes after the holidays and has birds or works in productive farms with birds disinfect their clothes and shoes before coming into contact with their birds.

On productive farms

The executive director of Cupra pointed out that The areas with the greatest health risk are where the breeders and hatcheries are, but traditionally there are very important prevention measures.

For example, everyone who enters must go through an area where they must shower and dress in special clothing and shoes. All the workers of these farms, in addition, cannot have chickens or chickens in their homes. “That’s traditional,” he remarked.

In all cases, furthermore, There are also anti-bird meshes where the chicken fattening activity is carried out, a biosecurity measure that, given this detected case, has begun to be controlled.so there are no leaks.

The use of foot showers, disinfection of vehicles prior to entry and exit, and change of clothing when work is to be carried out in the sheds was also encouraged, to prevent the virus from reaching the sheds.

“We are reinforcing all measures, the disease can cause very significant damage to production. We have been growing in production and consumption of poultry meat in our country, the same happens with the production and consumption of eggs. They are working with the government to develop and improve the sector aiming at exports, and it would be very negative to suffer a setback in this path due to this disease. A very strong job is necessary in the coming weeks, combined between the government and the sector to avoid damage ”, he concluded.