Prompt testing of sick wild birds for avian flu is being recommended by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Disease Control.
The recommendation comes after warnings that a highly-pathogenic avian influenza is causing outbreaks in Russia and Kazakhstan and as winter approaches the risk of migratory wild birds infecting domestic poultry will rise.
Rapid testing, high standards of hygiene and preventing wild birds accessing feed and water are measures that could keep poultry disease free.
“Rapid identification of the presence of avian influenza enables effective disease management,” said Dr Berwyn Clarke, of Iceni Diagnostics. “Critically, the ability to identify any pathogenic variant of influenza will ensure that all potential infections will be picked up and that is a key profile of the Iceni Diagnostics tests.”
The company has developed a series of diagnostics for flu, which can differentiate between the different types of the virus and provide a yes/no response in the field within 15 minutes.
Bird flu is a notifiable animal disease and must be reported immediately.
