A special press conference devoted to H5N1 virus infections in cats was held at the Ministry of Agriculture. It was also attended by Chief Veterinary Officer Paweł Niemczuk, director of the National Veterinary Research Institute – National Research Institute in Puławy, Professor Stanisław Winiarczyk, and president of the Polish Meat Association Witold Choiński.
– Information published in a press article claiming that avian influenza virus is present in raw poultry meat is completely unverified. No studies confirm this,” the deputy minister stated firmly.
Professor Krzysztof Pyrć of the Virology Laboratory at the Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology, whose research was cited by the article’s authors, sent a statement:
A press report has been published suggesting that the results of research conducted by our scientific teams showed that cats have contracted H5N1 avian influenza virus in recent weeks through contaminated meat from Polish poultry. This is untrue. We did not demonstrate this.
Can people catch it from cats?
Professor S. Winiarczyk pointed out that this facility is the only one in Poland with the status of a reference laboratory accredited by the European laboratory in Padua. He also noted that none of the people who owned a cat infected with H5N1 had fallen ill.
– Of the one thousand known human cases of H5N1 infection worldwide, not a single one was transmitted by a cat,” the professor stressed.
What is the position of the Chief Veterinary Inspectorate?
Paweł Niemczuk stressed that only healthy meat may enter the market. He recalled that meat is examined before and after slaughter every time.
What is the position of the Polish Meat Association?
Witold Choiński appealed to media representatives to take greater responsibility for their words. He noted that Poland’s poultry sector holds a very strong position in Europe and worldwide. Poland is the largest poultry producer in Europe and the fourth-largest in the world.