 Romanian authorities decided to end the quarantine and allow people to move freely in all localities were bird-flu outbreaks were recorded, after the 15-patients suspected of bird-flu tested negative, said an official with the Health Ministry.
“Ending the quarantine does not mean disinfection and culling of birds in the affected areas will stop,” said Rodica Costinea, director with the Public Health Department in the Health Ministry.
Romania has so far confirmed 55 outbreaks of bird flu in ten counties, as well as in two districts of capital city Bucharest , one month after authorities had closed all previous virus outbreaks. There are 43 more suspected virus outbreaks in eight counties and in one district of Bucharest.
Costinea added the ban on transporting live birds staid valid.
On Wednesday the Government rejected a proposal from the agriculture minister Gheorghe Flutur for his ministry to take over the management of the veterinary authority, after a second outbreak of bird-flu in Romania , this time in three chicken farms.
The previous wave of bird flu outbreaks, lasting from October to April, occurred on individual farms and was related to the contact of domestic birds with the wild life.
The professional association of veterinary doctors protested against Flutur's initiative, stating their independence from the ministry of agriculture, won in 2004, was in line with the European Union standards.
Premier Calin Popescu Tariceanu appointed Marian Avram as the new head of the Veterinary Authority.
A week ago, Tariceanu had sacked the head of the veterinary authority Ion Agafitei, and Wednesday he took over from Flutur the leadership of the joint commission managing the bird flu outbreak, after President Traian Basescu criticized the latter's handling of the crisis.
“An outsider gets the idea there is a lack of coordination which turns us into the laughing stock of both the population and the European Union,” said Basescu, chairing a government session for the first time after his back surgery on May 9 in Vienna , to fix a herniated disc.
Basescu also commented on the apparent disarray the executive branch was in, saying it invented words for putting a positive spin on events. “What is that a “relaxed quarantine”?! Are we to find out in a short while there is also a hard quarantine and a flask one to be enforced?!” asked Basescu rhetorically.
He pointed out the need for Romania 's veterinary authorities to find out which was the actual source of the bird flu virus spread this time around.
Romania must show the European Union by October that it can deal with food safety issues if it wants to join the 25-member block on January 1, 2007 . Three of the four still red-flagged issues the country has to solve by fall deal with the agriculture and the veterinary fields.
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