Modes of contamination
– Contact with affected animals
So far, people with the H5N1 avian influenza virus have been infected through the respiratory secretions of infected animals, their droppings, their feathers or contaminated dust. There is no evidence of contamination of humans with the H5N1 virus following the consumption of well-cooked poultry meat or eggs.
– Killed by heat, not by cold
Once present in poultry meat, the H5N1 virus is not destroyed by refrigeration or freezing, but it is very sensitive to heat. “Conventional cooking, greater than or equal to 70 ° C in all parts of the food, inactivates it (clear cooking juice and no visible pink flesh). Well-cooked poultry can therefore be eaten without danger ”, indicates the international network of food safety authorities (World Health Organization).
– Inactivated by gastric acidity
In the event that we would have eaten undercooked poultry meat or contaminated and undercooked eggs, “the virus would be destroyed by the acidity of the gastric fluid”, explains, moreover, the French Sanitary Security Agency. of Food (AFSSA).
No risks in France
– Precautionary measures for farms
The extension of the epizootic or epidemic in animals by migratory currents of birds is a plausible hypothesis. The European authorities and the Ministries of Agriculture of European countries have already implemented concerted measures to prevent it.
– Healthy poultry and eggs
For now, poultry, their meat and eggs are healthy in France as well as in the European Union. Imports of products from countries with outbreaks of avian influenza are strictly prohibited.
What hygiene rules?
– The danger of raw eggs
According to the World Health Organization (WHO): “Although sick birds normally stop laying, eggs laid during the early stage of the disease could contain virus in the yolk or white or on the skin. shell. The survival time in faeces, which can be found on surfaces such as shells, is sufficient to allow wide dissemination of these viruses during the sale and distribution of eggs, during their shelf life. »Consequence: you will have to be very careful when handling the eggs and cooking them.
– Cook the eggs well
We use raw or undercooked eggs (less than 80 ° C) in the following preparations: soft-boiled, fried, scrambled eggs, runny omelets; mayonnaise, bearnaise sauce, hollandaise; egg yolk on the steak tartare; in chocolate mousse. In the event of contamination of the farms, we will therefore no longer eat foods prepared from raw eggs that are not intended to be cooked.
– No pink duck breast
We always eat well-cooked poultry, at over 70 ° C (that is to say white in the heart), except when it comes to duck fillets and breasts which we often appreciate “rosy”. You will have to choose “medium” cooking.
– “Safety” actions in the kitchen
Separate raw meat from cooked or ready-to-eat foods. Do not use the same cutting board, the same knife for raw meat and other foods. Do not handle raw and then cooked food without washing your hands in the meantime. Do not use the same plate for placing cooked meat as the one it was on, raw. After handling frozen or thawed chicken and eggs, wash your hands with soap. Wash and disinfect all surfaces and worktops.
– To know more
The Ministry of Health and Solidarity has set up a call number on avian influenza to provide information, in particular to travelers:
Info’Grippe Aviaire: 0 825 302 302 (€ 0,15 per min.), 7 days a week, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (22 p.m. on Sundays and public holidays)
And also: www.afssa.fr