| Summary: | Poultry meat and eggs - safe to eat? Cue: When outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu have occurred, whether in Asia, Europe or Africa, one result is that people become very frightened of eating poultry meat or eggs. In many cases this fear is not justified. For example, people who are living in areas where no cases of avian flu have been reported should not think they will be at high risk of catching the disease. While there may be a small risk, carrying out normal hygienic practices like washing hands, knives and work surfaces after cutting up a chicken, and ensuring that the meat or eggs are properly cooked, will eliminate any risk of contracting the disease, even if it should be present. However, in areas where an outbreak has occurred, consumption of poultry products is not a good idea, and will be prohibited by quarantine regulations. This is because even though cooking will kill the virus, people are at risk of contracting it from doing other tasks like plucking and handling the uncooked birds. Dr Philemon Wambura, of the Animal Diseases Research Institute in Tanzania spoke to Lazarus Laiser about the risks from consumption of poultry and eggs. Lazarus began by asking whether it was safe for people to eat birds which look healthy, if they come from a flock in which other birds have shown symptoms which could be avian flu. IN: ?No, no it is not safe because ?? OUT: ??precautious measures of whole hygiene.? DUR?N: 3?12? BACK ANNOUNCEMENT: Dr Philemon Wambura, advising that farmers and poultry keepers maintain good hygiene standards when handling chickens, to minimise the risk of catching avian flu. Transcript Wambura No, no it is not safe because by just merely looking at the chickens you cannot really tell sometimes chickens which are incubating the disease. So once the flock has been infected normally there is a quarantine. So both chickens, eggs and all egg products are not really safe for human consumption or even to catch them and to be closer to the farm. Laiser How about eggs from birds from that farm? Wambura ...
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