Bird Flu

[fallenangel]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Its just been on the news to make sure we dont eat under cooked polrty or raw eggs cos of bird flu. what about our dogs are they still ok to eat raw defrosted chicken wings and sutch or should we stop feeding them

 

[Janimal]

My hubby works in Animal Health Wendy - there are no dangers from eating poultry at the moment .... its mainly workers involved with live birds that actually have the disease.

I think its scare mongering at the moment.

The main worry also is wild birds carrying it from other countries to our stock in this country.

 

[fallenangel]

i thought eating poltery was ok but defra have said no the news no raw eggs and make sures everything is well cooked thats wat made me wounder about dogs and chicken wings

 

[~elizabeth~]

Really please, please don't worry, really the only threat to will be to actual poultry farm workers, and we're still several stages away from either the wildfowl population AND subsequently any commercial poultry flocks being affected. Even if they are, people are prepared, know what to look for and any affected birds will be isolated immediately. I don't think it is that easily transmissible either - the only people infected in the Dutch H7 outbreak were poultry workers, in direct contact with huge numbers of poultry/poultry waste.

The media have done a crap job (as usual) of reporting this story. The media mix up reports of the progress of the animal disease (which is a worry and problem to poultry folk like me, as all movements of poultry, shows, auctions etc have now been suspended) and the potential for a human influenza pandemic, which will probably originate in birds and then develop into a virulent form (probably in Asia, where the density of both human and poultry populations is such that the disease can transmit/mutate quickly) that is highly contagious in humans. It's really a completely separate issue.

 

[suzeanna]

I was watching a doctor on tv talking and he says its not because of bird flu, its because of salmonella and something else I've forgotton.......begins with a c and goes on for miles! they live in uncooked eggs and undercooked chicken. People CANNOT get bird flu from eggs and cooked chicken, well no one has so far anyway. If you get things in perspective, since bird flu has been around in the far east, which I think is 1997 originally, less than 70 people have died from it, and they were people who literally lived with chickens. If you look at how many people have died worldwide of *ordinary* flu, it runs into thousands, so you stand more chance of dying from standing next to someone with flu who is coughing and sneezing and not using a hanky than you ever will if you eat chicken daily for the rest of your life. They were saying that if this cold weather they are promising us for winter really arrives, up to 40,00 old people will die of the cold in this country. Now why isn't everyone making a fuss about that???

 

[Seraphina]

Flu is a respiratory disease; the virus has to be inhaled. Dogs do not get human flu. The avian flu is still few steps from changing to a form that can be transmitted from human to human. While there is a possibility it may do that, there is also a rather bigger possibility it may not.

So do not panic, i am more worried that chooks get slaughtered as a precaution and what will we feed our dogs then?

 

[~elizabeth~]

begins with a c and goes on for miles! they live in uncooked eggs and undercooked chicken.  People CANNOT get bird flu from eggs and cooked chicken, well no one has so far anyway.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Campilobacter? I forgot to say earlier, there are lots of potentially harmful bacteria in raw poultry meat, you are much more likely to be made extremely ill from Salmonella, E. Coli etc

 

[BeeJay]

So having got to the real problem with raw chicken could some people answer Jill and Tilly's post in general discussion whippets. Because her husband is concerned about feeding raw chicken wings to her dog in case the children get food poisoning.

What are the chances do you think?

feeding raw chicken

 

[~elizabeth~]

What are the chances do you think?

I will quote from the best book I know on poultry diseases (Gail Damerow's The Chicken Health Handbook):

___________________________

"The chance you will get a disease from your chickens is pretty slim esp. if you practice common sense hygiene that includes washing your hands... Many of the organisms that cause... disease in humans are fairly common in the environment, whether or not that environment includes chickens...

Meat and Egg contamination

... Bacteria pose the greatest threat among contaminants in poultry meat or eggs especially those that are commercially produced, since large-scale production lends itself to unsanitory practices...

The most common causes of bacterial food poisoning are Campylobacter, E. coli and Salmonella:

Campylobacterosis

Although this gets less press than salmonella, it is the world's leading food-borne pathogen, the most common cause of diarrheal illness in humans and of growing concern.. because of the prevalence in commercially produced poultry.. Humans are affected by handling infected birds or by ingesting undercooked infected poultry products (unlike salmonella, it does not infect humans via raw or undercooked eggs).

General info on cooking poultry:

Salmonella are killed at any temperature above 142 degrees F (61 C)

Heat poultry meat to 185 degrees F

Reheat leftovers to 165 degrees F

___________________________

Applying this to dogs, if you feed raw chicken meat to dogs, they will probably ingest at least some of the bacteria mentioned. This probably won't do the dogs any harm, as they are more resistant to some of these bugs than we are, but there is a potential for contamination. On the other hand, these bacteria are out there in the environment anyway (the chickens have to pick them up from somewhere in the first place, from eating rodent/wild bird droppings, carrion etc), and can thus be picked up by dogs from other sources anyway (certainly ours has helped himself to carrion and faecal matter of animal and bird origin).

If you have children, then perhaps don't feed raw chicken just in case there is direct contamination from the meat, via fur, paws, licking or whatever; encourage washing of hands just in case there is contamination via other sources.

I have a rather poor immune system and handle poultry, poultry manure every day, and eat raw (but very fresh) eggs and to date have never had a problem with food poisoning.

 

[BeeJay]

Thank you Elizabeth. Brilliant. :thumbsup: