Business information

Avian Flu - advice to the public

Poultry (including eggs) are still safe to eat.

The World Health Organization (WHO) advises that poultry and poultry products can be prepared and eaten as usual (following good hygiene practice and proper cooking), with no fear of acquiring infection.

The risk to those travelling to countries where avian flu is endemic is low.

There are no travel restrictions for persons travelling to affected countries. But travellers should take sensible hygiene precautions i.e good personal hygiene with frequent hand washing when in contact with farm animals and/or wildfowl, removing and washing contaminated clothing and disinfectating contaminated surfaces.

The public should not handle dead or diseased wild birds or other dead animals, which always pose a disease risk. (See guidance elsewhere).

None of this, however, should stop people enjoying feeding the ducks in the park or lead them to cancel visits to local countryside or the continent.

There is detailed advice on Defra’s website (select from external links) or you can contact the DEFRA helpline for advice on what to do if you find one or more dead swans,ducks, geese, wild gulls or waders, or, more than 10 dead birds of the same or different species, in the same place.

Humans need extremely close contact with (dead or diseased) infected poultry or wild fowl to contract avian flu and almost all human cases confirmed to date have reported close contact with infected poultry.