ABSENTEEISM of up to 75% is one of the scenarios Abbey National is considering as it plans how to deal with an outbreak of bird flu.

The high-street bank said that having 75% of its staff off sick was the “worst case scenario” — other firms are preparing for rates of between 10% and 50%. Branches could be shut and customers urged to pay bills online.

Should the bird bug strike, JSainsbury, the supermarket group, is factoring in greater demand for products people buy when they are sick, such as painkillers and soup. It also anticipates strong sales of bread and “store cupboard” food, such as dried milk.

Many companies are swinging into action to prepare for a bird-flu pandemic.

British Airways flights will have disease packs consisting of gloves and masks to limit infection.

Virgin Atlantic has placed an order for Tamiflu, the drug that lessens the flu’s symptoms. It is looking at what hygiene measures it could introduce.

Veolia, the waste-disposal and water firm, is ordering protective clothing for all its staff, who may have to handle dead birds.

John Hutson, chief executive of the pub chain JD Wetherspoon, said: “If there is a drop in demand for poultry we have arrangements in place with our suppliers to switch to beef, pork or lamb.”

However, a large percentage of firms — between a third and half by industry estimates — are still ignoring the threat of a bird-flu epidemic.

The Freight Transport Association has yet to formulate an action plan, although it believes bird flu would add to Britain’s shortage of lorry drivers, which already stands at 50,000.

Robert Perlman of the risk consultant Kroll, which has created a 40-strong corporate preparedness unit, said: “There has been an acceleration of companies doing something sooner rather than later in the past 30 days.”

Minimising contamination between staff would be vital, according to Mike Osborne of ICM, the business continuity specialist. He said: “The first thing will be to stop foreign travel, then people travelling between offices. Companies will have to close areas such as staff canteens to stop people in different departments infecting each other.”

He recommends antiseptic wipes on each desk and phones sterilised each night. Osborne said doctors’ certificates may no longer be mandatory, and all sick leave could end up being paid.

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