10 questions and answers to the most popular questions about the flu epidemic at the Laishevsky poultry complex
At the Laishevsky poultry complex, the entire population of chickens will be destroyed - that’s 450 thousand pieces. The All-Russian Research Institute of Animal Husbandry in Vladimir confirmed the assumption of Tatarstan veterinarians about an epidemic of bird flu at a poultry farm. Experts have discovered a highly pathogenic H5 virus in birds. The plant produced products under the Derevenka brand; about a million eggs managed to go on sale. What to do with “flu” eggs, is it possible to get bird flu and will prices for chicken meat soar - Realnoe Vremya answered the most popular questions.
Contaminated eggs got into kindergartens?! This is true?
Yes, it's true. The Laishevsky poultry complex supplied products to kindergartens and schools in Tatarstan. Since May 1, he has shipped 214 thousand eggs to children's institutions. Theoretically, products can be contaminated with bird flu, but to establish this for sure, laboratory tests must be carried out. If they determine the presence of bird flu, then all products will be destroyed. Just in case, all batches of questionable eggs were sealed and they were not used for cooking.
I bought Derevenka eggs, will I get my money back if I return them to the store?
The store is unlikely to accept these eggs from the buyer. In order to return a product, you must prove that it is of poor quality. At a minimum, establish that these eggs are infected with the influenza virus. This is done in the Rosselkhoznadzor laboratory. Whether the time spent is worth the cost of a dozen eggs is up to you to decide.
Of the million eggs released from the factory since May 1, it was possible to locate 300 thousand, plus the 214 thousand that ended up in kindergartens. Photo ko-ko.ru
I ate the Village eggs. Will I get bird flu?
You are not the only one who finds yourself in this situation. Of the million eggs released from the factory since May 1, it was possible to locate 300 thousand, plus the 214 thousand that ended up in kindergartens. All the rest were sold out and probably consumed. There are no known cases of flu in the past few days as a result of this. The virus dies at a temperature of +70 degrees, and if you did not eat them raw, then nothing bad can happen to you, even theoretically.
What should I do if I have contaminated eggs in my refrigerator?
See the answer to the previous question: the virus dies at a temperature of +70 degrees. Hard boil them and eat them safely. The main thing is to wash your hands thoroughly after contact with the egg - the virus may be on the shell. If you feel sick at the mere thought of “flu” eggs in the house, then dispose of them. But just do not throw them in the trash in their raw form - they can become prey for pigeons and crows. For them, the virus is terrible - mass infection and death of wild birds will begin. Rosselkhoznadzor advises that before throwing them away, the eggs must first be boiled or, in extreme cases, buried.
What about semi-finished products? They don’t write there at all what poultry farm they come from?
The same. You don't eat them raw, do you? Well, in general, “Laishevsky” specialized only in eggs, they did not produce chicken meat, so there could be no contamination on display cases with wings and legs.
Treatment is appropriate - drink plenty of fluids, antipyretic, antiviral drugs. Photo: proalergico.sk
So, bird flu is not dangerous to humans at all?
Not really. It is not dangerous for those who eat properly and carefully thermally processed products. But it can be dangerous for poultry workers - people who come into contact with sick birds. The symptoms of the disease are the same as with regular flu - high fever, sore throat, weakness. Treatment is appropriate - drink plenty of fluids, antipyretic, antiviral drugs. There were such cases - from 2004 to 2006, 167 people fell ill with the avian influenza A virus in six countries - Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, China, Turkey, including 78 deaths. Bird flu can be transmitted from person to person only through mutation of the virus.
What happens to sick laying hens?
All chickens from the contaminated poultry farm will be destroyed. This is about 450 thousand heads. The first 15 thousand, whose disease can be recognized without tests (symptoms are the same as in humans - fever, weakness, snot), have already been burned. The rest, healthy or not, will face the same fate in the near future. This is done for preventive purposes, so as not to cause mass infection of all poultry in the region.
I feel sorry for the bird. Will they be burned alive?
Since the virus dies at high temperatures, it was decided to burn all the birds. As the Rosselkhoznadzor in Tatarstan said, they will not destroy chickens using such a brutal method as burning them alive. The birds will first be killed; there are several options - using special drugs, gas chambers, or simply turning off the ventilation in the chicken coop. Only after this will the carcasses be burned.
Private farmsteads under the special supervision of veterinarians. There are checkpoints around the source of infection that operate around the clock. Photo ko-ko.ru
What should owners of private farmsteads who keep chickens do?
Quarantine has been introduced in the Laishevsky district. The area around the village of State Farm named after. On October 25, where the Laishevskaya poultry farm is located, it was divided into two zones; three settlements are located within the threatened infection zone within 5 km - the village of Aleksandrovsky, the village of Sredneye Devyatovo, and the village of Smoldeyarovo. Private farmsteads under the special supervision of veterinarians. There are checkpoints around the source of infection that operate around the clock. The second zone - within a radius of 10 km - belongs to the surveillance zone, it includes the city of Laishevo, the villages of Imenkovo, Chirpy, Emelyanovo and several villages. Residents who keep poultry need to monitor its health more closely.
Will eggs become more expensive now?
The factory, although it was one of the largest in Tatarstan, but, as stated in the Ministry of Agriculture of the republic, occupied only 10% of the republic’s egg market. As Minister of Agriculture Marat Akhmetov said, “there may be a slight increase in price, or there may not be one at all.” We are talking specifically about eggs; the factory did not produce meat, and the flu epidemic at Laishevsky should not affect its prices. As for the damage to the enterprise, it amounts to about 100 million rubles. After the quarantine is lifted and the factory is disinfected, after three months, the owners can resume work. The Ministry of Agriculture promised to help.
Daria Turtseva
Avian influenza virus. To prevent its further spread, the management of the enterprise decided to destroy almost half a million chickens. RT Minister of Agriculture Marat Akhmetov estimated the damage to the enterprise at 100 million rubles. Later, Rosselkhoznadzor, that the cause of the spread of the disease was the negligence of the employees of the Rostov Regional Veterinary Laboratory - they did not recognize the strain of the virus in products intended for sale in Tatarstan and seven other regions of Russia. Inde spoke with representatives of the Ministry of Health and Rospotrebnadzor of the Republic of Tatarstan and found out how to recognize the bird flu virus, whether the seasonal flu vaccine will help against it, and what household precautions will protect against infection.
Press officer of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan
Bird flu is an acute infectious viral disease of birds that affects the digestive and respiratory organs and leads to death. The virus is carried by migrating birds, most often wild ducks. But they, unlike poultry, have developed resistance to this virus. The source of the infectious agent is sick and recovered birds, as well as their excrement. The mechanism of infection is airborne.
The standard avian influenza virus is not transmitted from birds to humans. Infection of humans is possible only with mutated viruses as a result of recombination of genes of avian and human influenza viruses, against which humans have no immunity. Infection is possible through consumption of contaminated products (meat, eggs, feathers) and through direct contact with living or dead infected birds. There is no data on human-to-human transmission of the virus.
Seasonal influenza vaccines contain antigens from the most current influenza virus strains at a given time. The strain composition of vaccines changes in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization. In addition to influenza antigens, domestic vaccines include immunomodulators that help strengthen the immune system and increase the body’s resistance to viral infections. Therefore, even though the vaccine may not contain antigens against a particular type of avian influenza, vaccination in general will increase the body's resistance to infection. But regardless of this, it is necessary to observe personal hygiene measures:
Do not allow children to play with wild birds or sick poultry.
Do not handle or eat dead or sick birds. If a dead bird is found, access to it by people and animals should be restricted. If possible, it should be buried, protecting your mouth and nose with a mask or respirator, and your hands with gloves. After finishing work, wash your hands and face thoroughly with soap and change clothes.
If you find a sick bird, you should immediately notify your local veterinarian.
If you develop any acute respiratory (flu-like) illness after contact with a bird, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Bird flu disease begins with the usual signs of a cold: severe symptoms of intoxication, high body temperature, chills, muscle and joint pain. At the first signs of illness, you should consult a doctor. Self-medication is unacceptable and can be fatal.
Press service of Rospotrebnadzor RT
An effective method of preventing disease in everyday life is heat treatment of food. Before consumption, poultry meat must be cooked at a temperature of at least 70 degrees, eggs must be boiled for at least six minutes. At this temperature, the bird flu virus is killed, so even contaminated products become safe. It is strictly not recommended to eat raw eggs, fried eggs, eggnog, or add eggs to sauces without further heat treatment.
Do not use raw or soft-boiled eggs in foods that will not be further cooked.
After handling raw meat and eggs, wash your hands, as well as all surfaces and utensils with water and detergent.
For drinking, use only bottled or boiled water.
Do not buy poultry meat and eggs from places of unauthorized trade, without accompanying documents (veterinary certificate) confirming their origin, quality and safety.
If there are a number of birds on a subsidiary farm, comply with sanitary and veterinary rules for care and maintenance. If the birds have suspicious symptoms, inform the veterinary inspector.
Bird flu is an acute bacterial infection caused by influenza A viruses (more precisely, their subtypes H5 and H7) belonging to the Orthomyxoviridae family. If hygiene rules are followed correctly, the virus is not dangerous to people.
To avoid infection, it is necessary to avoid contact with birds and heat-treat poultry meat and eggs - the avian influenza virus dies at temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius.
Symptoms of bird flu in humans and animals
Virus incubation period bird flu takes from 3 to 5 days and depends on the age of the bird, its type and strain of the virus. Clinical studies avian influenza did not reveal characteristic symptoms of this disease. Most are due to environmental factors, co-infections, age and species of bird, and the subtype of virus responsible for the disease.
Bird flu virus...
The main clinical symptoms of HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza virus) include:
- appetite disorders, especially lack of appetite;
- depression and other nervous disorders;
- soft shell eggs;
- a sharp decrease in egg production;
- swelling and bruising of the ridge;
- sneezing, swelling of the infraorbital sinuses, lacrimation;
- breathing problems;
The highly pathogenic form of the virus can lead to death, which occurs without prior symptoms. The avian influenza virus sometimes causes infection in humans. But when this happens, the disease is much more severe than the “classic” form of influenza.
Bird flu in humans causes symptoms very similar to those of regular flu, that is, it is characterized by:
- fever;
- cough;
- sore throat;
- pain in muscles and joints;
- ataxia;
- inflammation of the conjunctiva.
Sometimes this can cause breathing problems and pneumonia.
Routes of infection with avian influenza
Contrary to what is commonly thought, the timing and direction of migration of birds living in the wild is different from the timing and direction of avian influenza, and there is no evidence that outbreaks can occur due to transmission of the virus by wild migratory birds.
This is evidenced by the fact that H5N1 virus actively spread in Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia in the summer, when waterfowl molt and are not able to fly. The “attack” of bird flu that took place in Europe in the winter of 2006 also did not coincide with the period of bird migration.
Currently, the greatest danger to humans is the mutation of the H5N1 virus, which can be transmitted from person to person. This could lead to a pandemic, but research shows that only a few such cases have been identified so far.
The virus can be infected from free-living birds, through intermediate sources (drinking water) or direct contact with poultry, through feed. The main source of infection is the feces of infected birds. The virus is also spread by rodents living on farms.
Prevention and treatment of avian influenza infection
In order to avoid infection with avian influenza virus Some precautions should be taken:
- wash with detergents all objects that have come into contact with raw poultry meat;
- ensure that juice from raw meat does not come into contact with other food products;
- avoid contact with bird feces;
- Direct contact with infected birds or their bodies should be avoided - the avian influenza virus is also transmitted through contact with down or feathers;
- avoid eating raw eggs;
- wash hands and tools after each handling of poultry products.
Particularly at risk from the virus are:
- healthy children aged 6 to 23 months;
- children from 6 months to 18 years of age who regularly take aspirin;
- pregnant women;
- people suffering from chronic diseases of the cardiovascular or respiratory systems;
- people suffering from metabolic diseases such as diabetes, kidney failure or immune disorders;
- persons after organ transplantation.
Treatment of bird flu consists of alleviating the symptoms that appear during the course of the disease, as well as the use of antiviral drugs, of which the most common is oseltamivir.
(H5N1) is a type of influenza virus that infects birds and can be transmitted from them to humans. Transmission of the disease occurs mainly through the fecal-oral route.
Historical background
Avian influenza was first described in Italy in 1880. At the beginning of the 21st century, the disease spread through migratory birds from Southeast Asian countries to other countries such as Austria, Germany, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Romania, Asia, South and North America , Africa. Bird flu in Russia was discovered in 2005, it was introduced by wild migratory birds and outbreaks of the disease did not spare the Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tyumen, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk regions and the Altai Territory. Kalmykia, the Tula region, Türkiye and Romania were the next to suffer from the virus.
The first avian influenza virus in humans was recorded in 1997 in Hong Kong.
What is the danger of the disease
This type of influenza is extremely dangerous for humans, microorganisms are very contagious and cause serious damage to the lungs, the virus can affect the liver, kidneys, and brain. In addition, it is insensitive to interferon drugs, Remantadine, and has a tendency to mutation, which makes it even more dangerous. The mortality rate from the disease is quite high and amounts to 50-80%.
How is bird flu different from regular flu?
Symptoms in humans initially resemble those of the common flu. A runny nose, cough appears, the body temperature is elevated, the person becomes weak and lethargic. But the consequences of the disease are very severe, most cases are fatal.
Therefore, if even one bird on a farm gets sick, the entire population is destroyed to avoid serious consequences.
Transmission routes
The source of infection is wild waterfowl. They themselves do not get sick. Being in reservoirs with stagnant water, birds with feces leave a virus there, which through the water infects waterfowl, and then the rest that are on the farm.
The virus is transmitted to humans by airborne droplets. When poultry coughs, droplets of mucus or saliva are released. By inhaling them, a person becomes infected. The virus can be transmitted through contact, through touching objects that have secretions from a sick bird on them.
The virus can survive for many years at temperatures below minus 70 °C, which means it can survive in frozen meat. The past is safe, the virus dies at +70 ° C, in addition, it cannot withstand repeated repeated freezing (more than 5 times).
There is a high risk of catching the virus among people working on poultry farms and among rural residents raising poultry. Children, pregnant women and the elderly are also at risk.
Main features
It can occur in two different forms. The first option does not have serious consequences. A bird that is sick stops laying eggs, has a cough, and its feathers become ruffled. The second option, in which the respiratory and digestive organs are damaged, ends in death.
How does bird flu manifest in humans? Symptoms in people at the initial stage are similar to those of a common cold or flu, but very quickly turn into pneumonia. The disease often ends in death.
The incubation period ranges from one to seven days. The disease has an acute onset - with high fever, pain in muscles and joints. The temperature (about 38 °C) lasts 10-12 days, in severe cases it persists until death.
Laryngitis, rhinitis, bronchitis appear on the 2-3rd day, severe sore throat occurs. Along with such symptoms, viral pneumonia develops with a disease such as bird flu.
Symptoms in people can be not only intoxication and catarrh. Very often the gastrointestinal tract is also affected, which is accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Bleeding from the nose or gums may occur. A person who is sick with bird flu will feel worse very quickly.
Diagnostics
Professional medical assistance is required at the slightest suspicion of bird flu. Symptoms in humans that arise after contact with a sick bird or person are a reason to immediately consult a doctor. The therapist will examine and interview the patient, and also prescribe additional studies. When listening to the lungs, if pneumonia has begun to develop, hard breathing is detected, and there are moist rales. An X-ray examination reveals a rapidly spreading infiltration.
In a general blood test, with this disease there is a decrease in the number of leukocytes, lymphocytes and platelets. To make an accurate diagnosis, in addition to a blood test, it is necessary to take a nasal swab.
A sick person may have an enlarged liver and may develop kidney failure.
How to treat?
Treatment of bird flu takes place in the infectious diseases department of the hospital, where the person will be prescribed symptomatic therapy. The most commonly used antiviral drug is Tamiflu, which was used effectively during the epidemics of 2008 and 2009.
A less weak but effective bird flu is Arbidol, which is prescribed in a higher dosage, which ensures maximum antiviral effect. Medicines containing paracetamol (Ibuprofen, Nise, Efferalgan) help to cope with fever and fever. Preparations that contain interferon, which is necessary for the patient.
Equally important is complete isolation of the patient, which prevents infection of surrounding people. A sick person must have individual personal hygiene products, bed linen, clothes, dishes, etc. In the acute period of the disease, it is necessary to frequently rinse the upper respiratory tract to get rid of accumulated mucus. In addition, the patient needs to adhere to a strict diet, eliminating or limiting fried, spicy and sour foods.
Prevention
In order to avoid infection, you must:
- Avoid contact with wild birds.
- Children should be prohibited from being hand fed.
- At the slightest sign of illness in poultry, they must be destroyed by reporting the incident to a veterinary clinic.
- If you discover a dead poultry, you must immediately bury it, wearing a thick mask, protective clothing and gloves.
- If you have poultry, be sure to thoroughly wash your hands regularly.
- It is necessary to undergo a course of preventive procedures in a medical institution when going to the territory where avian influenza was discovered. Prevention includes vaccinations and antiviral medications.
- Although cases of infection after eating chicken have not been officially registered, it is necessary to remember precautions when preparing poultry and egg dishes. Thorough heat treatment helps destroy the virus.
If you find even the slightest signs of bird flu, contact us as soon as possible. Timely and qualified medical care will save your health, and in severe cases, even life.
For several years now, news of outbreaks of bird flu, a hitherto unknown to us, has been exciting the world. But recently, individual cases have grown into a real epidemic. How to protect yourself and your child from infection? How dangerous is this H5N1? We asked these and other questions that concern every parent to Elena Petrovna KOVALEVA, professor, doctor of medical sciences, leading researcher at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor of the Ministry of Health and Social Economic Development...
- Elena Petrovna, so what is bird flu, the news about which is now more like reports from the fronts? How is it different from other forms? Why is it so dangerous?
- Avian influenza (AI) differs from ordinary human influenza in its severe course and damage to the respiratory tract; Pneumonia develops quickly, and diarrhea and kidney damage are often observed. Mortality reaches 50-70%. Human avian influenza disease was first registered in 1997 in Hong Kong, then in other countries of Southeast Asia, and in 2006 in Turkey. The most common causative agent of AI is virus A (H5N1). Group A virus causes influenza in humans and birds, whales, pigs and other animals. Virus A differs from “human” and avian influenza in the surface structures of H (hemagglutinin) and N (neuraminidase). There are 15 known subtypes H and 9 subtypes N. Diseases in humans are caused by virus A (H3N2, H1N1, H2N2). The most dangerous of the AI viruses for humans is virus A (H5N1). In the Netherlands, there was an outbreak of AI in humans caused by the H7N7 virus, but it was milder.
Human flu is transmitted from person to person by airborne droplets, but the AI virus is not yet transmitted from person to person.
- Did you say bye?
- Yes, I think that there really is a threat of a pandemic (a pandemic is an epidemic that covers a large part of the population of a country or an entire continent).
If the “human” flu combines with the avian flu (and this is possible if a person is simultaneously infected with these viruses), then a mutant virus may appear. Its peculiarity will be the inherited severity of the course from the AI virus and “volatility” - the ability to be easily transmitted from person to person, characteristic of the “human” influenza virus.
- How dangerous is bird flu on a global scale?
- This is a global problem, which is being addressed by the World Health Organization and a number of other international organizations. The GHG problem is a real problem and should not be underestimated. But, on the other hand, one should not exaggerate it and sow panic.
Let me remind you that at the beginning of this century, world health services under the auspices of WHO dealt with another new infection - SARS, or atypical pneumonia - in less than a year. So there is hope to defeat bird flu too.
- Why do they destroy birds? What effect do they want to achieve?
- Let's start with the fact that only poultry - sick and infected - are destroyed. If diseases appear in chickens, the entire population in a homestead or on a poultry farm is destroyed. Chickens get seriously ill and die quickly. All people who became ill with AI were infected from poultry.
The main reservoir of AI in nature is waterfowl; they often suffer an asymptomatic form of infection, but shed the virus for quite a long time (up to 20-40 days).
Wild birds are not destroyed. It is important to protect poultry from contact with them. Shooting of wild birds is carried out in exceptional cases, by decision of local authorities, in areas immediately adjacent to large poultry farming complexes.
- Summer is coming. And almost every mother thinks about whether it is worth going to the village to visit her grandmother or to the dacha in light of the latest news about bird flu. What should mom need to provide?
- Of course, you need to go to nature, to the country, to the village with your child. But the mother must comply with a number of requirements:
- do not allow the child to play with poultry and chickens, chicks that have fallen from a nest in a tree, do not kiss chickens or birds;
- no need to feed children warm, freshly laid eggs! Be sure to heat treat them;
- keep the birds in a fenced poultry house;
- do not allow children to play where there is bird droppings;
- ask your child to wash their hands as often as possible;
- do not allow swimming in small bodies of water where there are waterfowl.
- How can you get infected with bird flu?
Several main routes of infection have been identified:
- when eating insufficiently heat-treated poultry meat, raw eggs;
- upon contact or playing with sick birds (chickens, ornamental birds, etc.);
- when fluff or feathers infected with droppings get on a person’s hands and then into a person’s mouth;
- when trying to take the beak of an ornamental bird, wild bird, or poultry into the mouth;
- when swimming in a small pond where birds swim;
- when playing on an area contaminated with bird droppings.
- Is it possible to eat poultry meat? And if so, how to prepare it so as not to fear for your health or the health of your small child?
- Poultry meat can and should be eaten. Just don’t need to buy it secondhand. Certain requirements must be observed: poultry meat should be stewed for at least 30 minutes; it is better not to bake the whole chicken carcass.
Remember that heat treatment kills the avian influenza virus.
- What about eggs?
- You should not eat raw eggs. Those that are hard-boiled are safe.
- What are the signs of avian influenza in humans?
- The main signs of PG in humans are conjunctivitis, rhinitis, lacrimation, as well as general symptoms that are observed with the flu. But for some time the disease can be asymptomatic. Since the main victims of this virus are children, you need to carefully monitor their well-being, especially if the child has had contact with domestic or wild birds. If you suspect PG, you should immediately consult a doctor.
- Are there any methods of treating bird flu today?
- If a child or adult falls ill, you must call a doctor. Antiviral drugs are recommended for the treatment of PG: arbidol, algirem, oseltamivir or Tamiflu, zanamivir, remantadine. The sooner treatment begins, the better.
- Is it possible to get vaccinated and forget about this threat?
- So far, vaccines have been developed only to protect birds from AI. Birds in households are actively vaccinated. There are no vaccinations that protect humans from AI; they are under development. However, during the pre-epidemic influenza season, it is recommended to be vaccinated against human influenza. First of all, such vaccination is aimed at protecting children and elderly people suffering from chronic diseases from influenza, who usually experience the disease more severely. Domestic and licensed foreign inactivated vaccines are used, the influenza vaccine, which protects against influenza and increases the body's nonspecific defenses.
Prepared by Anastasia BUYANOVA
