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Birds "ground alive" in cull - paper

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  • Birds "ground alive" in cull - paper

    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD>http://english.mti.hu/default.asp?me...&newsid=222474
    Birds "ground alive" in cull - paper

    </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Budapest, July 4 (MTI) - A newspaper in south Hungary reported claims on Tuesday that a poultry processor put live chicks, ducks and geese to the grinder to comply with authority regulations on culling poultry in areas where bird flu has appeared.</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>
    Hungarian authorities ordered the culling of some 600,000 birds -- either infected with the deadly H5N1 virus strain or showing symptoms -- as part of protective action to stop the spread of the virus.

    Eyewitnesses told local paper Delmagyarorszag that amateur photographs taken at the ATEV plant in Hodmezovasarhely are accurate and some animals were ground while still alive.

    Zoltan Seres, who represents Orpheus Animal Protection Association, spoke out against the plant's actions and said torturing animals was against the law.

    The factory's managing director Gabor Szabo has refused to comment on the reports. County chief veterinarian officer Sandor Szigeti said EU regulations state that poultry must be choked with gas before being culled. He said he did not believe birds were being ground alive at ATEV and he suspected the reports were libelous.

    Farm minister Jozsef Graf said he had not heard of the case but would take action if substandard practices in culling turned out to be true.

    No charges have been filed to the police, local police spokeswoman Szilvana Tuczakov told MTI. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

  • #2
    Re: Birds &quot;ground alive&quot; in cull - paper

    There are two things that are disturbing to me about this story.

    First, the obvious, is the whole act of putting live birds through a meat grinder.

    Second, is the fact that they ordered a cull of 600,000 birds due to H5N1. It would appear that Hungary is having a heck of a time controlling their bird flu problem and in the past it was reported by the Romanian government that their bird flu problems originated from Hungary.

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    • #3
      Re: Birds &quot;ground alive&quot; in cull - paper

      Yes, Hungary has large problems, though this is the first we've heard from them in the last two weeks. They have two major sources of bird flu, sources that will not go away. They have the Danube River which goes from the south to the north, and which has vast numbers of waterfowl, and a lot have of them have tested positive in Hungary, Serbia, and Romania. The second is a major lake--Lake Balaton in the west. This is the lake that Croatia referred to back in October when it said that the H5N1+ dead swans in their country had Lake Balaton tags--see the first quote below. As far as I know, as of two weeks ago, based on local reports, Hungary had 4 ongoing poultry outbreaks over a distance of 125 miles. On June 20th, you'll recall that they culled 14,000 geese at a farm in the south with strange neurological symptoms. This latest number of 600,000 is quite large. We'll have to wish them the best and see how it goes.

      Bird flu confirmed in Croatia
      26/10/2005 14:22 - (SA)

      Zagreb - Dead swans found in a Croatian nature park were infected with the lethal H5N1 bird flu strain, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday after receiving test results from a British laboratory.

      The laboratory in Weybridge, which tested samples from six swans that had already tested positive for H5 subtype of bird flu last Friday - Croatia's first bird flu case - confirmed it was the H5N1 strain, ministry spokesperson Mladen Pavic said.

      "We have already taken measures to contain the disease," he said.

      The test results were confirmed by the European Commission in Brussels.

      Suspected

      Following the announcement of the suspected case over the weekend, the European Commission on Monday issued a precautionary ban on imports of live poultry, wild birds and feathers from that Balkan country. "That ban remains in force," said EU spokesperson Philip Tod.

      Croatia also has stopped exporting live poultry.

      The six dead swans were found in the nature park of Zdenci last week and experts later found 13 more dead swans that were believed to have belonged to the same flock in a nearby fish pond.

      Two of those 13 also tested positive for the H5 subtype, but their samples have yet to be examined to determine whether it was the H5N1 strain.

      Croatia disinfected and quarantined the region around the sites and all domestic poultry there were slaughtered and incinerated.

      The ministry said none of the 17 000 domestic poultry culled earlier this week had tested positive for bird flu. Negative results also came for hundreds of dead birds turned in over the past months.

      Comply

      The ministry warned farmers across the country to comply with the order to keep their poultry indoors.

      The H5N1 strain has been confirmed in birds in Romania, Turkey and Russia as it moves west. It has decimated poultry flocks in Asia in the past two years and killed more than 60 people.

      Croatian experts on Tuesday shot down a sick swan in the Zdenci park they suspected of having bird flu. It was tagged, showing that it was at Hungary's Balaton Lake on September 9, Pavic said, adding that Hungarian experts had been informed.

      Hungary has not recorded a bird flu case yet.

      Croatia is a major migratory route for birds, and about 1 500 migratory swans arrived in eastern Croatia a few days ago.

      International experts are closely watching for H5N1 for fear it could mutate into a form easily transmitted between people and spark a human flu pandemic.
      New cases of bird flu in geese suspected in S Hungary
      Budapest, June 19 (MTI) - A total of 580 geese will be culled at a farm in Kulsogalambos in Bacs-Kiskun County in southern Hungary in the wake of suspected bird flu, the chief veterinary officer told MTI on Tuesday.

      The owner of the farm reported irregular behaviour of his geese to the local vet, Miklos Suth said, adding that authorities had ordered a one-kilometre quarantine zone around the farm, where all other poultry would have to be culled.

      He said further cases could be expected in the region, where the virus was still taking its toll.

      On Monday the culling of 14,000 ducks was ordered in nearby Csolyospalos because of suspected bird flu infection. The vet found those birds to be suffering from a nervous system disorder that could have been caused by the H5N1 virus.
      New cases of bird flu in S Hungary

      Budapest, June 17 (MTI) - Geese at a poultry farm in Szank, S Hungary, are believed to have been infected with the bird flu virus, the chief veterinary officer announced on Saturday, adding that 700 birds had already been killed to prevent the disease from spreading.

      Miklos Suth told MTI that a further 2,300 birds at nearby farms, which might be affected, would be culled before the end of the day.

      It is likely that the virus that had made the geese sick is the deadly H5N1 strain, the chief vet said.

      On Friday, the European Union control laboratory in Weybridge, UK, confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus isolated from poultry that died earlier in the same region.




      Hungarian bird flu vaccine to be tested on 500 volunteers

      Budapest, June 17 (MTI) -
      The vaccine developed in Hungary for the H5N1 of bird flu virus, which is potentially dangerous for humans, will soon be tested on five hundred volunteers, including children and pensioners, Hungarian public television said late on Friday.

      A recent test on 150 people verified that the vaccine, unique in the world so far, has been effective in protecting humans from the H5N1 virus. Additional testing in Hungary is to pave the way for the vaccine's official registration under European Union rules, the television said.

      Several countries in Asia and the Middle-East have already ordered millions of doses of the vaccine under contracts worth tens of billions of forints, the broadcast said, adding that the vaccine cost 30-35 euros per dose.

      Vaccine developer and owner Omninvest said back in April that it had the sufficient capacity to produce a volume enough to protect Hungarians in case of a pandemic.
      http://english.mti.hu/default.asp?m...5&newsid=221652

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      • #4
        Re: Birds &quot;ground alive&quot; in cull - paper

        Originally posted by Jeremy
        There are two things that are disturbing to me about this story.

        First, the obvious, is the whole act of putting live birds through a meat grinder.
        Lol,and I mean it.First impression -> The Wall

        But seriously, why are they grinding, export, pet food or my favourite, easier to render, separate the fats from water and it can be burned, but why burn it, if you render it all passes the 90 C temperature and according to the experts its safe for puppy food, but why even render it, I better start watching out for where those pre cooked meatballs come from at least for the label cooked at over 90 C.
        No lol no more.

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        • #5
          Re: Birds &quot;ground alive&quot; in cull - paper

          I agree, why grind them at all?

          Not long ago I read a pdf file containing information about percentages of poultry litter allowed in animal feeds for the US and Canada.

          I knew that many commercial fertilzers contained poultry litter, but didn't realize that it was also being fed to cattle and other livestock raised for consumption. TVP is looking better all the time ... LOL!
          "There's a chance peace will come in your life - please buy one" - Melanie Safka
          "The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be" - Socrates

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          • #6
            Re: Birds &quot;ground alive&quot; in cull - paper

            I have a hard time getting worked up over this when few people say anything any more about far worse done daily to humans.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Birds &quot;ground alive&quot; in cull - paper

              My first concern here is the post-grinding sanitation of the grinders!

              Not only might we give thought to where the infected meat is going, but how about the subsequent grindings of non-infected meat?

              Remember the canned chicken products that were supposed to be safe - but infected people in ??? - can't remember which Asian country.

              Food prep is NOT always 100% IAW procedures.

              .
              "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

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