#409
The sudden realization that Britain isn't protected from the H5N1 virus by the English Channel has caught the press apparently by surprise. The tidal wave of coverage of the outbreak of the H5N1 virus at the Suffolk turkey farm has been overwhelming, and has ranged from informative and insightful to downright silly.
The tabloids are, as one might expect, having a heyday. Reporting on `Tamiflu jabs' (likely flu shots), and fearful employees of the Bernard Matthews plant.
Luckily, the mainstream papers are doing a better job. While the messages are decidedly mixed ("government seriously preparing for a pandemic", "no danger to the public"), the reporters are getting up to speed.
The Times, not unexpectedly, is one of the finer examples of reporting on this story.
From The Times
February 05, 2007
Poultry farmers face export ban as vets warn threat is here to stay
Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor
Britain faces the loss of £370 million in export trade in meat and live birds after the arrival of the avian flu virus in the poultry industry.
Ministers expect to receive reports today from embassies outside the European Union that countries have banned trade with the UK on poultry meat. After a similar outbreak in France last year countries outside the EU imposed immeditate trade bans of at least six months.
Chicken and turkey farmers and processors are also bracing themselves for a backlash against poultry meat in Britain and are desperately trying to persuade consumers to hold their nerve and save the £3.4 billion-a-year market in Britain.
However, leading vets are concerned that the disease may now be rife in wild birds around Britain and on the Continent and the country must be prepared to live with a constant threat of a bird flu outbreak.
Public anxiety over the outbreak at the Bernard Matthews plant at Holton, in Suffolk, was further heightened when Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, confirmed yesterday that the Government was preparing “very, very seriously and thoroughly for the possibility of a pandemic flu”.
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