Ground Avian Flu Fears

But proper cooking and handling may not offer sufficient protection when it comes to delicacies like foie gras, raw duck blood pudding, raw duck blood, or bird’s nest soup. In Vietnam, three brothers contracted bird flu after drinking raw duck blood, a delicacy in some Asian cultures. The foie gras industry of France was threatened by a bird flu outbreak last year; while uncooked foie gras should be avoided, cooked foie gras is safe. The clear message is that consumption of raw poultry ingredients poses a high risk and should be discouraged.

The virus can also be present in the tissue of frozen chicken, because low temperatures maintain the viability of the virus. In 2004, Japan and Korea banned imports of both live and frozen poultry meat from China and Thailand following identification of the virus in frozen poultry samples. Once again, whether it is purchased fresh or frozen, the meat should be properly and thoroughly cooked.

The Incredible Inedible Egg?

The virus can also be found inside egg whites, egg yolks, and on the surfaces of eggs laid by infected birds, but proper cooking inactivates the virus inside the eggs. Uncooked eggs that have not been treated should not be used in food that will not be cooked, baked, or treated in any other way. Some examples include cake batter, cookie dough, fruit drinks made with raw eggs, dressings made with raw eggs—Caesar salad dressing, for example—homemade ice cream, or tiramisu. For such foods, eggs that have been pasteurized to inactivate the virus can be used. There have been no reported cases or epidemiological evidence to suggest that people have been infected by consuming eggs or egg products. To eliminate shell contamination, commercial egg suppliers in North America wash and disinfect the outsides of eggs with chlorine prior to breaking or packaging.

Another issue is that while consumers are mainly concerned about eating poultry and eggs during bird flu outbreaks, some food products are grown in agriculture and aquaculture using chicken litter as a fertilizer.

According to recent research conducted by Penn State University’s Animal Diagnostics Laboratory (University Park, Pa.), virus particles in chicken manure are inactivated after six days at 15-20°C, after 36 hours at 28-30°C, and after only 20 minutes at 56°C. Therefore, virus is inactivated during phase I and phase II composting. Patricia Dunn, DVM, MAM, ACPV, co-author of the Penn State study, says it is not likely that litter from an infected poultry farm would be released several weeks after the birds have been killed or removed from the premises and subsequently test positive for the presence of virus. Suppliers of poultry manure should assure their customers of biosecurity measures on their farms and should ensure that poultry litter is composted, properly ensiled, and dried with heat treatment.

Barriers in Food Manufacturing

Efforts to contain the virus need to include all three stages of the food chain: the first step, the poultry farms; the intermediate step, the marketplaces; and the tertiary end of the food chain, the food processing industry and consumers. Other than people who breed and rear birds, there are many workers (e.g., cleaners, packers, cooks, chefs, food handlers, and other kitchen workers) who come into contact with birds. People responsible for slaughtering birds must wear protective clothing. Workers cleaning and decontaminating poultry houses must also take special precautions; they are likely to have contact with contaminated feces.

Poultry growers and processors can ensure that no dead birds are delivered to slaughterhouses. They must also adopt zero tolerance of fecal contamination of carcasses and must dispose of tissues where the virus is most likely to reside such as the lungs, trachea, head, and intestines.