Gov't control body to inspect poultry farms

 

        Bucharest , May 19 /Rompres/ - Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu has asked the control body of the Government to make up teams to inspect the country's poultry farms for compliance with the bio-security legislation in force.
        Tariceanu said on Friday, after a working meeting with Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development Gheorghe Flutur and officials for the institutions concerned with preventing and combating avian flu, that exemplary measures will be taken against those breaching the law.
        He also said that a series of measures was approved at the meeting for more efficient fight against the break out and spread of the avian flu.
        Thus, he announced having asked the Transport Ministry to set up additional pester control points on roads and the National Defence Ministry to supplement the troops provided for the enforcement of the measures decided upon by the Central Animal Epidemics Command.
        At the same time, Tariceanu said he requested the Health Ministry and the Education Ministry to inform the population, particularly that in the rural areas, about the basic precautionary measures against the break out and spread of the avian influenza virus.
        Tariceanu also called on the local authorities to enforce the measures ordered by the Central Animal Epidemics Commands, as well as on the media to publicise the measures and recommendations made by the authorities. He added that Romanians should not panic, and that the measures taken so far are the right ones.
        Asked about who is to blame for the current situation, Tariceanu said Minister Flutur has no responsibility for it. He argued that this is the result of the foolishness of the farm owners of Codlea who violated the bio-security measures in force and of the Brasov Animal Health Department, which allowed the farms to operate. ROMPRES

  Romania : Vets Are Sacked Due To Bird Flu, Post Chronicle - USA

BUCHAREST, Romania - May 19, 2006 (Post Chronicle – USA) -- Romania's veterinary chief and his deputy have been dismissed for reported poor handling of a bird flu crisis that is spreading in the country's eastern regions.

Prime Minister Calin P. Tariceanu and Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur decided to sack the director of the veterinary agency and his deputy because they failed to react properly in stopping bird flu, the Bucharest Daily newspaper reported Thursday.

The H5N1 virus was detected last week in a commercial farm producing chicken at Codlea, in central Romanian province of Transylvania , north of Bucharest . The disease has since spread to Brasov , Sibiu , Vrancea and Bacau counties.

Many locations in these counties have been placed in quarantine.

Flutur criticized veterinary officials in Brasov County for not running necessary checks at farms that breed chicken and sell meat. Veterinary teams were sent out to seize poultry meat from stores and destroy it.

Romania registered its first bird flu cases in domestic poultry in October, along the Danube River delta, which is crossed by hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. No human cases have been reported in the country.