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Deadly bird flu found at free-range turkey farm
A highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in free-range turkeys on a farm in East Anglia, Government officials have confirmed.
Acting chief veterinary officer Fred Landeg said the disease found in the poultry in Redgrave, Suffolk, was closely related to one found in birds in the Czech Republic and Germany in the summer.
Dr Landeg said the discovery suggested the virus could have been spread to the UK by wild birds, but insisted animal health experts were keeping an open mind and investigating all possible sources of infection.
A cull of 5,000 turkeys, more than 1,000 ducks and 500 geese on the rearing unit site was under way yesterday after the alarm was raised by poultry producer Gressingham Foods, based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, on Sunday following turkey deaths at Redgrave Park farm.
Protection zones, set at 3km and 10km respectively, and a wider restricted area covering the whole of Suffolk and much of Norfolk have been put in place, restricting the movement of birds and requiring them to be housed and isolated from wild birds.
Dr Landeg said: "The initial sequence data suggests that it's closely related to outbreaks in the Czech Republic and Germany, which does suggest a possible wild bird source.
"However, at this stage we are looking with an open mind as to the origin and all potential sources of the origin will be investigated, including movement of vehicles, people and things onto the premises."
A report by Defra into the last outbreak of H5N1 at the Bernard Matthews poultry plant in Holton, Suffolk, in February – initially blamed on wild birds – later said it was most likely the H5N1 infection came from turkey meat from Hungary.
Redgrave Poultry, a subsidiary of Gressingham Foods, which operates the organic farm at the centre of the new outbreak said it was a seasonal operation, preparing organic poultry for Christmas.
The company's operations director Geoffrey Buchanan said no infected birds from the farm had entered the food chain.
He also said Gressingham Foods imports meat products, as well as day-old poultry from Holland, but said no imported meat or birds had been taken to the infected farm.
However, the RSPB also warned against jumping to the conclusion that the disease had spread from wild birds. Dr Mark Avery, conservation director of the RSPB, said there have been no recent reports of wild birds dying of bird flu in the countries on their migration routes as would be expected if they were spreading the disease.
Under the regulations introduced to stop the spread of disease, movements within the wider restriction zone but not beyond are allowed and general licences for "low risk movements" were expected to be made available shortly.
The national general licence permitting bird gatherings in England has also been revoked and bird shows and pigeon racing are not allowed under the rules currently in place.
Dr Landeg urged poultry keepers to remain vigilant and maintain high levels of biosecurity to prevent the disease spreading.
And although H5N1 avian flu can be fatal to humans, it rarely spreads to people and then only when they are in close contact with birds.
Environment Secretary and Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn told the House of Commons that officials were doing their "darnedest" to make sure the disease did not spread.
And he said anti-viral drug Tamiflu had been given to all those involved in the cull, which he warned would take some time to complete.
"Culled birds will be transported to a plant in Staffordshire in sealed, leak-proof containers which will be escorted at all times. This is the nearest suitable plant for rendering in these circumstances," he told MPs.
But the Tories accused Defra of financial mismanagement because councils are being forced to slash animal health budgets by 12 per cent this year despite a series of disease crises, including the current bird flu outbreak.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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