Disease Unlikely To Affect Czech Poultry Consumption
PRAGUE - Czech poultry breeders and processors alike think the occurrence of the first case of bird flu at a poultry farm in the Czech Republic will not have a great effect on poultry meat consumption in the country, CTK has learned from them.
22 June 2007
2 minute read
It has been confirmed today that hundreds of turkeys were killed by the H5N1 virus at a farm in eastern Bohemia.
Zdenek Stepanek, CEO of Xaverov, a leading poultry processor said veterinary control is such that infected meat cannot get to the market.
Chairwoman of the Czech Poultry Association Dagmar Tumova said consumption will most probably not be affected as Czech consumers in buying meat consider especially its price, and poultry is the cheapest meat on the market. Its consumption has doubled since 1989.
Agropol Group spokeswoman Jana Kindlova said bird flu caused problems on the market last year but these were mainly due to the imports of cheap surplus meat from countries where sale dropped by tens of percent.
Bird flu was first found in the Czech Republic in March 2006. Thirteen other cases followed, all in swans living in the wild.
Now the infection was discovered at a poultry farm.
