 Adam
Afriyie
MP
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Keep your eye on the
Birds
09-Feb-07, Windsor Express
Article.
Bird flu has made an unwelcome return to our
domestic headlines as it was confirmed that chickens on
a Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk had contracted the
disease. The H5N1 version of the disease had infected
2,600 turkeys and triggered a mass cull of the farm’s
160,000 birds. And at the time of writing, doctors were
carrying out tests on a vet who fell ill after working
on the outbreak.
The headlines have certainly brought back unwelcome
memories of the foot and mouth and BSE crises, and the
poultry industry, which employs over 50,000 people
across the country, will be worried about their
livelihoods.
Fortunately, the virus can only be caught through
working very closely with infected birds. It is also
some comfort that it cannot be passed easily between
humans, although scientists recognise that it could
mutate into a more infectious form. Whilst the potential
for a flu pandemic is quite remote, the consequences are
extremely worrying as the human cost, even if the
outbreak is contained, could be significant.
I believe in giving credit where it’s due, and Defra
officials and experts seem to have done their best to
contain the threat, in difficult circumstances. We must
watch and hope that, with the current paralysis at the
heart of Government over the upcoming leadership change,
ministers’ eyes will not be taken off the job of
protecting the public.. |
I
believe
People are happier
when making their own decisions.
Business is the
engine of the economy that generates our jobs, incomes and
taxes.
Government should
not interfere in our lives beyond protecting and defending
us.
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