ONE of Britain’s leading veterinary experts called last night for the vaccination of backyard poultry and hobby birds to protect the country from the avian flu virus.

Professor Sheila Crispin, a visiting Fellow at Bristol University’s vet school and the next president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, has already raised the issue with the Government’s chief vet, Debby Reynolds.

She spoke yesterday after news leaked to The Times that the Soil Association, the leading organic farming organisation, and the Elm Farm Research Centre were calling for the vaccination of 15 million outdoor poultry before migratory birds return to Britain from areas where the H5N1 virus is widespread.

Professor Crispin backed vaccination during the foot-and-mouth outbreak. “I really believe we need a more pragmatic approach to dealing with a disease that is going to be an inevitable problem in the wild bird population and I feel in particular it is a problem for people who just keep a small number of poultry outside,” she said. “I still think there is a bit of a hangover in the Government from foot-and-mouth and many think it is easier to kill animals instead of controlling a disease through vaccination.”

Professor Crispin is a member of the Science Advisory Council, which examines policies for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and she intends to raise the issue at its next meeting.

The problem is that there is no consensus among politicians and scientists about preventive vaccination. Many are sceptical about the effectiveness of the available vaccine. The main concern put forward by Defra is that vaccine can mask symptoms of the disease and may also spread infection.

There are also serious logistical problems in vaccinating millions of birds. Each bird must be manually inoculated and it may take three weeks for the bird to have immunity. Larger birds, turkeys and breeding stock may also require a second booster vaccine.

The vaccine does not prevent the bird from contracting the flu but it may reduce the symptoms and birds will excrete the virus. A vaccination may also affect trade with countries outside the EU. It is not possible to distinguish meat from birds that have been infected and those that have been inoculated.

Britain has acknowledged the benefit of vaccination to control spread of the disease once there is a confirmed outbreak. One-mile exclusion zones are to be set up around any place where a bird is found to be infected. All flocks in that zone would be tested for disease and if one bird were found to be infected the entire flock would be slaughtered.

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