Juan Lubroth Quotations

We're been looking for it in wild birds for the last two months and it is surprising that we've come up with zero.

Poultry meat and eggs ... are safe, and the concern is to ensure that there is no spillover from wildlife to poultry production systems.

If the government is just there to kill the animals and cull them there is the possibility that the farmers won't report cases.

I think that wild birds may introduce the virus but it is through man and man's marketing systems (the poultry trade) that the disease spreads. It is also possible that poultry can transmit the virus to wildlife when they share the same ecosystem.

It is important to underline that there is no evidence that the H5NI virus is present in poultry in Italy. At the moment, the disease remains confined to individual cases in wild birds only.

It is important to underline that there is no evidence that the H5N1 virus is present in poultry in Italy. At the moment, the disease remains confined to individual cases in wild birds only. The current situation in Italy does not provide consumers with any cause to avoid eating poultry products.

People need to be informed about the importance of basic hygiene notably washing hands after touching poultry and disinfecting boots or shoes before entering or leaving a poultry farm. They should also be aware of suitable farming practices such as ensuring that poultry are roofed-in to avoid any contact with wild birds and not mixing chickens with other species, such as ducks.

Such plans and field operations must be fully supported by national governments with participation of the private sector. The international community should continue to provide expertise and financial resources.

I would love to have a map of illegal trade - but I'm embarrassed to say we don't have a good handle on it. We all know it occurs and we are worried, but what we see confiscated is only the tip of the iceberg.

We encouraged the countries to increase surveillance. But I'm not a policeman. What I can do is to ask governments to be more vigilant.

We don't have a spread of the virus, what we have is the introduction of the virus into countries of the European Union. The difference is that it's human activities, through commerce, through the market place, through the way we raise our poultry that we get disease spread. The fact that in Europe, in many countries, it's been picked up in migratory birds, is very, very relevant, it means that the European authorities -- Italy, Greece, Germany, Denmark, Austria -- are monitoring, doing active surveillance in the wild bird population.

There are other ways diseases move around the world.It could be that wildlife introduced the virus, but through our own activities of commerce, the disease spread.

We still have time to prevent the pathology from becoming an epidemic if Turkish veterinary services receive the necessary aid from international organizations.

We don't know how the disease got into Nigeria.

We've never seen a disease spread out as much as this one has in the past 18 months to two years.

What we are seeing is that the surveillance system in Europe is very, very good, since we're picking up disease in migrating swans. If anything, this should increase people's confidence in their food. We're seeing it in migrating swans, not in chickens.

We are still in time to be able to prevent the virus from being endemic in Turkey if the Turkish veterinary services have enough resources.

Are there more out there that we do not know of?

Avian influenza has not been a priority for Indonesians.

This is unlikely to make any significant contribution to the protection of humans against avian influenza.

It's like looking at bread crumbs, but you don't see the whole loaf.

It's very easy to blame bird migration, because then no one's responsible. Migrating birds may introduce the virus into an area, but it is human activity that spreads it.

They are learning to live with the disease and control it when it appears.

Immediate reporting by poultry keepers and their community leaders is the biggest safeguard for people?s health status.

I have praise for the European countries because they have they have implemented their surveillance and identified the virus in migratory birds. This shows us the surveillance is working.

How extensive the problem is in India is still not known.

The details are still sketchy, and how extensive the problem is still not known, although there are quite a few deaths.

The measures are an example of how governments should move to contain the virus once it is detected.