Feather pillows may carry Asian bird flu

Poultry feathers imported from China to make products such as pillows could carry the avian flu virus, says a British microbiologist who is urging the British Government to consider banning them.

Imports of Chinese poultry meat already are banned in Britain, but duck, chicken and turkey feathers are still being brought in, Professor Hugh Pennington told BBC Radio. He said the virus could survive in faecal material on feathers.

"I think there is a case for looking very seriously at feather imports and saying, well, is it wise to be bringing in feathers from countries where this bird flu virus is now pretty well out of control?" he was quoted as saying.

"The risk is a real one that we might be importing the avian flu virus along with the feathers," Professor Pennington said.

"It may not be very easy for the feathers to be infectious to people, but they could certainly be infectious to birds and, of course, not just chickens but pretty well any species of birds."

The avian flu has affected poultry in eight Asian countries, with 45 human deaths among people who caught the illness, a strain of flu known as H5N1.

So far, humans appear to have caught this flu from chickens and other poultry, and the virus is not known to have spread from person to person.

What health authorities most fear is that the virus will mutate into a form that can pass easily from one human to another. That's when a global threat would be most likely.

The deadly flu of 1918, which killed from 20 million to 50 million people worldwide, didn't appear suddenly but mutated gradually into the deadlier form.

Last week, the British Government announced a step it would take to cope with a possible deadly avian flu pandemic.

Health Secretary John Reid said that 14.6 million doses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu would be stockpiled.

Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson outlined other measures to reduce the spread of the virus, including the possibility of closing schools and cancelling soccer matches and concerts.

- NZPA