This bird has flu

Earlier this month after the H5N1 virus was detected in every country surrounding Poland, dead swans infected with the virus were found in the northern city of Toruń.

It's difficult to gauge precisely what effect this will have on Polish poulty sales. France, Europe's largest poultry producer, admitted last month that the bird flu outbreak in the country is costing the industry EUR 40 (zł.153.8) million per month.

The first bird-flu cases in Europe and  the first reports about a possible pandemic signaled the beginning of hard times for the poultry industry. "Since fall when the first news about bird flu in Europe appeared, the market fell by about 10-15 percent. There was also a visible decrease in prices of poultry products," said the general director of the National Poultry Council (KRD) Leszek Kawski.

But the discovery of the virus in Poland didn't lead to an immediate slump in demand for poultry. "I spoke with the directors of the largest poultry distributors and they all said that there is no fall in sales. Neither have they noticed a fall in prices of poultry products," Kawski explained. He believes  the main reason for this is that society has been hearing a lot about the virus in the past months and has become more informed about the real risks.

He is more cautious, but not pessimistic, about the future prospects for the industry. He said that although there are no signals yet that we might see a huge slump on the poultry market, it could change if the virus is found in other places in the country. "It all depends on how the situation develops. Making any prognosis today would be guessing," Kawski said.