John Culatto
GIBRALTAR got the all-clear for bird flu after dead seabirds that arrived on its shores tested negative for the disease in results that arrived from the UK.
Director of Public Health Helen Carter said that no animal or human being had tested positive for avian flu.
But she praised the quick reactions of her department that she said showed Gibraltar was ready for any sort of bird flu outbreak.
The public health department decided to test the dead birds in December.
Different government departments met to discuss what possible action could be taken if bird flu was proven to be spreading on the Rock.
One such measure discussed was a cull of pigeons and chickens.
“What we’re concerned about is if you have human seasonal flu circulating and flu in birds, and you then get a mixing of the viruses, that can then create a new strain,” Carter said.
Two people in Spain caught the avian influenza in Spain as it spread from the UK via migrating birds.
“We haven’t got avian flu in birds that have been dying, but what that did was give us the opportunity to re-look at all our plans,” she said.
“If we do get avian flu here, we’re very clear about who’s doing what and the human health consequences and what we need to do.”
Public health experts in the UK have put to death thousands of birds after the outbreak there.
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