Investigation Of Workers Involved In The Holton Avian Flu Outbreak, UK

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has now carried out testing on a total of four people who have been involved in the avian flu outbreak on a poultry farm in Holton, Suffolk. Three workers who were tested last week all had symptoms that could indicate the possibility of avian influenza and which required further investigation according to Agency protocols. A fourth person who did not work directly with poultry was tested as a precautionary measure and received a negative result over the weekend. All the patients are now being treated under normal clinical care, or have been discharged from hospital where appropriate.


Dr Jonathan Van Tam, a flu expert at the Agency said, "The risk of any workers testing positive for avian flu is very low as they have followed all the necessary precautions in terms of protective clothing, hygiene measures and have been offered antiviral drugs.


We may still expect to see a number of workers with symptoms caused by other respiratory viruses as this is the time of year when we see an increase in these infections. We will continue to offer seasonal flu vaccine and antiviral medication to those identified who have been exposed to infected birds or materials"


Following the announcement on Friday that Defra, the Food Standards Agency and the Health Protection Agency will carry out an investigation into the meat processing plant opposite the Bernard Matthews farm, the HPA have carried out a risk assessment looking at any risk to the health of the workers on this plant. If the plant was shown to be involved in the incident then the Agency's assessment would be that the risk to the workers health would be very low and that it would not be necessary for antiviral drugs to be offered to them.


This risk assessment considered various pieces of information that are currently known such as the fact that there had been no reported human infections resulting from the de-feathering process that took place in Hungary; that any level of virus in the meat would decrease during the transportation and because the processes being carried out at the plant were not deemed to be high risk. The human cases which have occurred in association with infected poultry globally have involved intimate contact with feathers, blood and visceral material - this is not the case in the relation to these workers.


It is important to remember that H5N1avian flu remains largely a disease of birds. The virus does not transmit easily to humans, as evidenced by the 270 or so confirmed infections worldwide to date, versus the millions of people exposed to poultry everyday in SE Asia. Almost all human H5N1 infections so far have been associated with close contact with dead or dying poultry and in all human cases there has been no evidence of efficient human to human transmission.


More information on bird flu


hpa.uk