Sixth case of bird flu in poultry in UK

The UK’s chief veterinary officer has confirmed the H5N8 avian flu (bird flu) at a turkey rearing farm near Boston, Lincolnshire. This is the sixth case in poultry in the UK since the first case was discovered back in December 2016.

A 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone have been put in place around the infected premises to limit the risk of the disease spreading.

The flock is estimated to contain approximately 19,500 birds. A number have died and the remaining live birds at the premises will be humanely culled. DEFRA said a full investigation is under way to determine the source of the infection.

Public Health England advise that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency is clear that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.

Fourth case in Ireland

In Ireland a fourth case of the H5N8 strain in a wild bird was confirmed on Wednesday of this week. The H5N8 strain of bird flu, which is highly infectious in birds, has been spreading through Europe since the end of October 2016. It has not yet been detected in Irish poultry flocks. However, this week the Department of Agriculture extended the regulations requiring the housing of poultry and captive birds until further notice.

This Wednesday morning, members of the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development requested a meeting with European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan to discuss the devastation wreaked by this particular outbreak of H5N8. So far in Europe, over 550 outbreaks of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza have been recorded in both wild birds and poultry flocks and millions of birds have had to be culled. The worst affected countries so far are France, Hungary and Bulgaria.

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