Over 500 calls to bird flu hotline

Ostrich farmers could face mass cull, but public not shying away from buying chicken

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The avian influenza hotline that was opened in Finland at noon on Tuesday received 552 calls on the first day. At one point about 80 people were waiting in line to get through to the call centre.
      Callers were worried about issues concerning pets, hunting, and overall health. Some asked if fish were safe to eat, and if well water was safe to drink.
      Answering the phones were 12 employees. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry hired veterinary students, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health brought in people from the Finnish Red Cross. If they are asked questions that they were unable to answer, the caller's name and telephone number is taken down, and he or she is contacted after information is received.
      The respondents do not have any extra information that would not have been available in the media, or on the Internet.
      The ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has opened an e-mail service for enquiries concerning bird flu. The address is lintuinfluenssa@mmm.fi.
     
Ostrich farmers in Finland fear that the bird flu threat could cause problems for their profession already before the disease reaches this country.
      From next Wednesday, new regulations stipulate that poultry should be kept indoors to prevent the spread of the disease from migratory birds to domesticated fowl.
      Sune Mattson, an ostrich farmer in Saltvik in the Åland Islands, feels that ostriches simply cannot be kept indoors.
      Currently, the 50 birds on the Mattson farm can still roam outdoors, but they are being fed under a canopy where other birds cannot get in and tamper with their feed. However, this does not meet the requirements of the new rules. "In the worst case we might have to slaughter them."
      However, Michael Grunér, deputy provincial veterinarian of the Åland Islands, says that the ostriches might still have some hope, as there may be changes to the legislation.
      Grunér feels that the ostriches might be allowed to roam outside, if they were kept apart from other birds with a netted fence for instance.
     
Meanwhile, there have been no signs thus far that the avian flu scare has had a detrimental effect on sales of chicken and turkey meat in Finland. "We firmly believe it will not do so, for in the past Finnish consumers have always stayed somewhat unshakable during similar episodes", says Merja Leino, director of Poultry Industries at the Atria Group.
      The previous similar incident, the mad cow disease scare, lowered the consumption of beef to a much smaller extent in Finland than it did in the rest of Europe. "Faith in the safety of beef was restored here quickly", Leino explains.
     
At meat product manufacturers Wursti and Pouttu, no threats have been detected. Both companies rely totally on subcontractors in chicken breeding.
      Both Wursti and Pouttu mix domestic and imported chicken. At Wursti the share of chicken from abroad is 30 percent. Pouttu imports chicken from Brazil, Wursti from Denmark, which is even cheaper.
     
The avian flu scare has not caused major costs to poultry farmers in Finland, as the birds are already bred indoors.
      Producers of special bird meats, such as duck, goose, and ostrich, in turn, may have to invest in some additional construction expenses in the near future, should the consumers react negatively to the scare. But even these effects are likely to remain local, experts believe.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish wildfowl farmers decide to reduce pheasant populations (20.2.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat