ITALY / BELGIUM: Rome's main zoo checks birds for avian flu, while groups in Belgium warn illegal bird smuggling could spread the virus

Record ID: 835049

  • Title: ITALY / BELGIUM: Rome's main zoo checks birds for avian flu, while groups in Belgium warn illegal bird smuggling could spread the virus
  • Date: 22nd October 2005
  • Summary: MAN ENTERS CAGE WITH SNOWY OWLS SEIZED FROM BELGIAN CUSTOMS THREE SNOWY OWLS IN THE CAGE MORE SNOWY OWLS LOOKING AT THE CAMERA SNOWY OWL BEHIND FENCE
  • Embargoed: 6th November 2005 12:00
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  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA3JZV0Q0096PB6A36WQ3JD14JD
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  • Story Text: Veterinary doctors at Rome's central zoo are taking no chances with their birds, and are intensifying regular medical checks for avian flu.
    Some of the zoo's parrots originally entered Italy illegally and have been given a home alongside not only other species but are also in contact with the thousands of children and adults who pass through the gates every week. The threat of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has meant the mallard ducks, flamingos, and peacocks that crowd around the zoo's ponds, have never been so well looked after.
    The zoo's chief veterinary doctor, Klaus Friedrich said there has been no sign of the bird flu in Rome's main zoo. "We are following obviously all the information we get daily from the media and obviously from our veterinary service, from the Health Ministry, and at the moment in the territory of Italy there is no sign of presence of (avian) influenza but we are starting to be prepared for a possible problem in the future but at the moment I feel we don't have any risk here with the animals in the zoo" he explained.
    But medical checks on the thousands of pigeons, seagulls and starlings that come in contact with the more exotic zoo species are obviously impossible, though Friedrich is confident that the monitoring system currently operated by Rome's authorities is adequate. Fresh outbreaks of the lethal H5N1 avian flu strain have been reported in poultry in Turkey, Romania, Greece and Russia and the bird flu panic is running high in Europe.
    Rome's ability to control anxiety over the spread of avian flu will be put to the test in November when, like every year, millions of starlings migrate to the eternal city from Scandinavia. Whilst they may create beautiful patterns in the sky they may seriously test the nerve of the inhabitants.
    Avian flu is more likely to spread from illegal bird trade than natural migration according to the Royal Belgian League for the Protection of Birds (LRBPO). Brussels pet shop 'Chez Toutou' sells exotic birds legally. Owner Jacques Palombo has already seen a reduction in the number of imported birds he can sell because most of them come through China.
    Bird flu killed at least 2,600 birds at one Chinese poultry farm. The World Health Organisation has said that the H5N1 strain found in that farm is endemic in poultry in China and across much of Asia. That means it may only be a matter of time before it develops the ability to pass easily from human to human.
    Palombo says that most of the birds he is now selling in his shop are therefore bred in Belgium because of the bird flu scare. As for the imported birds, he says he trusts his supplier but he is nevertheless surprised the government has not sent out clear guidelines on how to deal with them. "We don't know anything. In any case, today, we continue to buy birds from the wholesalers. In general wholesalers quarantine the birds. We don't import ourselves. All the birds coming from abroad are quarantined. I suppose the risks are lessened,' says But some shops may not be so careful, and that is what worries Palombo.
    Illegal bird trafficking could lead to infected animals being sold on the open market to unsuspecting customers. Palombo wants stricter border controls. "Illegal bird trafficking could pose a serious risk, since, in such cases, there are no controls and they don't go through quarantine. So, in my opinion, it should be forbidden," he said.
    The LRBPO says bird trafficking is big business in Europe; the second biggest market world wide. The League, based in Brussels, receives illegally traded birds seized at customs and by police in pet shops across Belgium. Snowy owls are amongst some of the birds authorities recovered from Flanders. Commercial sale of the birds is illegal in Belgium but interest in snowy owls soared after the success of the film "Harry Potter".
    The LRBPO keeps them in their aviaries before transferring them to Sweden where they will be set free. League director Hugues Fanal says customs officers seized two bird-flu infected mountain eagles, from Thailand in October last year. Had they not been spotted by the authorities they could easily have spread the virus to other birds.
    "We recently had a case, last year, here in Brussels, at the national airport. Two birds from Thailand were brought through the airport and, fortunately, they were seized just in time and they were infected with the bird flu," Fanal says. Other birds were brought into the country hidden in containers carrying other legal goods. The goldfinches flying in his aviary were smuggled into Belgium from Azerbaijan via Italy.
    All the birds intercepted by customs are tested for avian flu but what worries Fanal the most is the large number of birds that are not caught. Most of the ones in his aviary were found by chance. He says illegal bird trafficking poses a huge threat to human health. "It is clear that if avian flu reaches the European Union it will either be because of commerce or trafficking, in other words because of the human conditions imposed on birds and certainly not because of their natural migration," Fanal said.
    Fanal says for years the League has been calling for an end to trade in wild birds but that no one would listen. He hopes the current threat of an avian flu pandemic will finally force authorities to change their minds.
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