The discovery of birds affected by avian flu "requires immediate eradication measures". This is foreseen by the EU Regulation of 2021 which defined it as a “category A disease, included among the“ big five ”. Therefore "while reiterating that the risk for humans is extremely low and that the virus is not transmitted above all through the consumption of poultry meat and eggs, in the event of outbreaks in birds kept in captivity or in poultry, the veterinary service of the ASL will act promptly also for any other cases that may arise in the area of competence with direct control measures ". In other words, with "the killing of the animals involved and the destruction of contaminated or potentially contaminated material, to avoid further spread of this virus which is particularly contagious for domestic and wild birds".
To clarify what is happening in Cagliari is the director of the animal health complex of the Asl of Cagliari, Mario Ignazio Lai. After the discovery of the avian outbreak in Monte Urpinu, his teams are now monitoring other bird-rich areas of Cagliari. Following the controversy, the manager sheds light on the steps that led to the painful decisions on the killing of all the birds of the green oasis.
THE DISCOVERY. Two weeks ago a veterinary employee of the Municipality contacted the ASL "to communicate that in Monte Urpinu there had been abnormal mortality in the domestic or semi-domestic birds that populate the park". The carcasses were sent to the zooprophylactic institute for laboratory tests. "Since mortality did not tend to stop", explain from the health company, "an inspection was carried out on Friday 27 October to verify the situation on the spot: nervous symptoms were detected in a young duck and the presence of 4 hens heavily demolished ".
Six other carcasses had been stored in the previous days. On November 4, " the ISS laboratory in Sassari issued the test report which highlighted the presence of the H5 subtype avian influenza virus in the brain, liver and intestine of all eleven dead animals".
THE ORIGIN. How did the virus get to Cagliari? The ASL explains that "the origin of the infection is probably attributable to the phenomenon of winter migrations of birds, in particular wild ducks, from the cold northern areas, which can act as asymptomatic carriers". For the experts "it is foreseeable to imagine an apparently healthy germane, a virus carrier, who arrives in Cagliari after a long journey, stops in the pond of a park where he rests for a few hours, spreading the virus with feces and contaminating the environment, to then resume the migration towards more temperate areas. This mechanism could have triggered the disease in Monte Urpinu, causing the death of animals of the receptive species, especially domestic poultry ".
NO ALTERNATIVE. The stamping out, the total killing, was an obligation: "It is however likely that many other animals would have died in the following days, if they had not been culled, keeping the infectious charge in the environment high", adds Lai, to then underline: "It is necessary to specify that the pigeons that populate many of our cities are not very sensitive to influenza viruses and are considered of little importance from an epidemiological point of view for this disease".
PREVENTION. Why weren't the animals vaccinated, as someone asked yesterday during the demonstration in via Leo? “Routine vaccination is currently not allowed in Europe for this disease”, replies the veterinary executive, “although in the future it is possible that it will be taken into consideration given the high spread of these viruses in different parts of the world. Currently, the disease is present on almost all continents and is causing huge economic losses, especially in Europe and the USA ”.