Human Health Issues

The choice of PPE will depend on the nature of the disease, virus strain and the level of human exposure. Disposable PPE must be of good quality, properly maintained and issued individually. Where appropriate, a range of sizes should be available. The ‘one size fits all’ principle is not an option, badly fitting PPE is at best, inconvenient and at worst, ineffective and may give a false sense of protection.  
Current advice is that a FFP3(¹) respirator with exhalation valve in conjunction with close fitting goggles or other equipment which gives similar levels of protection is necessary where protection against airborne transmission is required.  Where a good seal cannot be achieved with other respirators e.g. because of facial hair, a full hood powered respirator should be considered.  Lightweight disposable overalls with hoods should be worn to prevent contamination of personal clothing. Wellington boots, disposable surgical type rubber/vinyl gloves should be worn. Where available, toughened, tear resistant brands are preferred.
(¹) Respirators are intended to help reduce the wearer’s exposure to airborne particles. Some, including the ones recommended here, resemble surgical facemasks. They are made to defined national standards, such as European standard EN149: 2001 FFP3 respirator and the similar (but not identical) United States NIOSH-approved N99 respirator. The standards define the performance required of the respirator, including filtration efficiency. When worn correctly, they seal firmly to the face, thus reducing the risk of leakage.

Avian Influenza is not known to be present in the country. Wildfowlers and those in contact with wild birds should always take appropriate hygiene precautions when handling wild birds, such as wearing disposable protective gloves when picking up and handling carcases.  If you don’t have gloves use a plastic bag.  You should wash hands, nails and forearms thoroughly with soap and water after handling the carcase.

Place the carcase in a plastic bag and seal it, it can then be disposed of in the bin or alternatively bury it.

On the basis of current scientific evidence, the Food Standards Agency advises that avian flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers. This is because for people, the risk of catching the disease is from being in close contact with live poultry that have the disease and not through eating cooked poultry, game or eggs.
Further information is available on the website. The World Health Organisation advice is that there is no health risk from well cooked poultry meat or from eggs. Further details are available on their website through the link below.

World Health Organisation