Europe moves fast on bird flu

The Dutch government is reportedly seeking to vaccinate about 5.5 million birds. After confirming their first case of infection in a wild duck found dead near Lyon, France, the world's fourth largest poultry producer is expected to follow suit.

Germany, which successfully contained a small outbreak in 2003, has also ordered farmers to keep free-range fowl cooped up. More than 200 Bundeswehr soldiers specializing in chemical and biological weapons attacks helped state officials set up disinfection baths for cars coming out of Rügen over the weekend. Health authorities in the state of Mecklenburg Western Pomerania, where Rügen is located, ordered local farmers whose animals might have had contact with wild swans, to cull their stocks.

"I can understand these measures because we have regular visitors, products that we sell from our farm, and we have a restaurant," says Holger Kliewe, a Rügen farmer forced to kill his 2,000 geese, ducks and chickens on Sunday.

But Mr. Kliewe, who has run his farm and hotel since 1991, worries about the money he's losing. Guests planning to visit during Easter vacation have already begun calling to cancel their reservations.

The WHO says thoroughly cooked poultry meat and eggs are safe to eat.

Kliewe says it's still unclear if state authorities will compensate him for the culled poultry. The poultry association AVEC says it is too early to tell how much damage the virus could do to Europe's industry. Tens of millions of birds were destroyed in Asia, and poultry farmers in Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania have been hit by EU import bans since the virus was discovered there last fall.

France has already seen a 15 percent drop in the amount of poultry sold in the last week, according to media reports. Italy, which is the world's fifth largest producer behind France, said its sales have dropped as much as 70 percent. Both countries said they will ask the EU for permission to boost compensation to farmers for birds lost through culling. AVEC's Vermeeren said other business sectors, such as the grain industry, will be affected as well.

The poultry industry "is important, because we are a main user of cereals in the European Union," he says. "And that means that the impact is not limited to just the poultry sector."

Turkey remains the only European country so far where the virus has been diagnosed in humans. Though health officials in Europe are keeping a wary eye on house pets, virologists caution against overreaction.

"At the moment, we can still observe cautiously but calmly," says Uwe Truyen, managing director of the Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Health, in Leipzig, Germany.

• Simon Montlake contributed to this report from Bangkok, Thailand.

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