Bird Flu
Embassy Zagreb Warden Message - Avian Influenza
October 26, 2005
The European Community reference laboratory has confirmed that the Avian Influenza (AI) virus that killed a number of swans in Eastern Croatia on October 21 was the H5N1 virus strain. The discovery of the infected migratory birds in Croatia has been widely reported in the press. There have been no reports of illness or death in humans as a result of the presence of the virus in the wild bird population. Croatian officials are working closely with international agriculture and health experts to contain the outbreak and have taken a number of measures to prevent the spread of the virus, including surveillance, culling and testing. As of October 25, 2005, Croatia has ordered farmers to keep birds indoors and banned the hunting of wild birds. There have also been no outbreaks of the disease in the poultry sector.
The U.S. Embassy reminds U.S. citizens in Croatia that information about avian influenza ("avian flu," "bird flu," "chicken flu") including suggested precautions, is available in the U.S. Department of State’s “Avian Flu Fact Sheet”, which can be found at http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/health/health_1181.html. This website includes links to avian influenza information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Embassy urges all Americans in Croatia to monitor these websites as they are updated with current and accurate information.
Information (in Croatian) from the Croatian Government on avian flu in Croatia can be found on the web site of the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management at: http://www.mps.hr/
The Embassy encourages Americans in Croatia to register with the Embassy in Croatia. Registration may be done on-line at: https://travelregistration.state.gov/.
The Embassy is located at Thomas Jefferson Ulica 2, 10010 Zagreb, Croatia. During regular business hours you may contact the Embassy at (385)(1) 661-2300. The after-hours telephone number is (385) (1) 661-2400.
1. Why we are bringing this to your attention now?
Avian Influenza in humans in Southeast Asia has led the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to raise the concern that the H5N1 virus could develop the ability for human to human transmission with potentially mutated genes. While this could present the conditions for a pandemic spread of the virus worldwide, there has been no such outbreak to date.
2. Is there a problem with eating chicken or eggs?
The Department of Health and Human Serivces Center for Disease Control has issued the following advice regarding safe preparation of poultry and eggs:
- All foods from poultry, including eggs and poultry blood, should be cooked thoroughly. Egg yolks should not be runny or liquid. Because influenza viruses are destroyed by heat, the cooking temperature for poultry meat should reach 70°C (158° F).
- Wash egg shells in soapy water before handling and cooking, and wash your hands afterwards.
- Do not use raw or soft-boiled eggs in foods that will not be cooked.
- After handling raw poultry or eggs, wash your hands and all surfaces and utensils thoroughly with soap and water.
3. What can I personally do to decrease my chance of catching AI?
- To minimize the possibility of infection, observe precautions to safeguard your health. Specifically, you should avoid all contact with poultry (e.g., chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, quail) or any wild birds, and avoid settings where H5N1-infected poultry may be present, such as commercial or backyard poultry farms and live poultry markets. Do not eat uncooked or undercooked poultry or poultry products, including dishes made with uncooked poultry blood.
- Teach your children not to touch dead birds they may find.
- As with other infectious illnesses, one of the most important preventive practices is careful and frequent handwashing. Cleaning your hands often, using either soap and water (or waterless, alcohol-based hand rubs when soap is not available and hands are not visibly soiled), removes potentially infectious materials from your skin and helps prevent disease transmission.
- CDC does not recommend the routine use of masks or other personal protective equipment while in public areas.
4. What do I do if I believe I have been exposed to Avian Influenza?
If you believe you might have been exposed to avian influenza, take the following precautions:
- Monitor your health for 10 days.
- If you become ill with fever and develop a cough or difficulty breathing, or if you develop any illness during this 10-day period, consult a health-care provider. Before you visit a health-care setting, tell the provider the following:
1) your symptoms
2) if you have had direct poultry contact, and
3) where you traveled.
The U.S. Embassy also can provide names and addresses of local physicians. - Do not travel while sick, and limit contact with others as much as possible to help prevent the spread of any infectious illness.
For more information about avian influenza, see http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm and http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/.
You may also access avian flu information, including links links to the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control on the U.S. Embassy website at http://www.usembassy.hr/