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Swan Deaths Spread Fear Of Bird Flu In Europe
Veterinarians prepare to place a dead swan into a plastic bag on the Baltic island of Rugen, where two infected swans were found earlier.
(By Christian Charisius -- Reuters)
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Health Minister Francesco Storace has repeatedly sought to reassure Italians that chickens are safe. Nonetheless, since the weekend, Italian poultry sales plummeted 60 percent, according to the national poultry union.
"This is all because of a flu that doesn't exist on our farms," said Aldo Muraro, the union's president. Muraro estimated that 30,000 poultry workers out of a total of 180,000 have been laid off since bird flu arrived to the edge of Europe last fall. Since Italian authorities discovered eight dead wild swans in Sicily and other southern provinces last weekend, the government has kept a close watch on the poultry industry for signs of an outbreak.
Police in Sicily and Calabria confiscated 80,000 chickens at two poultry farms Tuesday because the owners had failed to put up a proper fence to keep wild birds away.
Owners of pet birds are also alarmed, according to a statement from the Animal Protection Agency, a private group, which said it was being flooded with calls asking how best to kill the birds.
Household pets are unlikely to contract the disease because they do not come in contact with migratory birds that carry it, the agency said.
In Germany, grocers said they had yet to see a steep drop-off in poultry sales but were trying to educate customers about the relative risks.
At Rogacki, a large gourmet shop in Berlin, shoppers crowded the store but mostly avoided the poultry section, despite a stack of fliers explaining that chicken and eggs were as safe to eat as ever.
"Some people seem hesitant to buy, but with our true customers -- the long-term ones -- I have not seen any change in the amount of poultry they are buying," said Bernd Dominick, 60, an employee at the poultry counter. "We have a handout to inform our customers that there is no need for panic."
Williams reported from Rome. Special correspondent Shannon Smiley in Berlin contributed to this report.
