Another outbreak of bird flu is suspected at a second farm in Suffolk, UK. The birds at Grove farm in Botesdale were scheduled to be culled following the confirmed discovery of the deadly H5N1 virus at nearby Redgrave Park farm on Tuesday.
But when officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) arrived at Grove farm to start the culling of 5,500 turkeys, they found some of the birds were already dead. Cause of death is suspected to be bird flu, thus the cull became “slaughter on suspicion”.
Grove farm was one of four premises identified by DEFRA as “dangerous contacts”, within the restriction zone around Redgrove Park, near Diss in Norfolk, and whose poultry was destined to be culled as a precautionary measure.
The other three farms where culls are taking place are: Hill Meadow in Knettishall, also in Suffolk, and two in Norfolk, Stone House Farm in West Harling, and Bridge Farm in Pulham.
A total of 22,000 free range turkeys are being culled on the four farms, categorised as “dangerous contacts” because of the strong possibility that the virus may have been spread by farm workers who travelled between the farms.
In a statement released by DEFRA yesterday, Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg said that the culling on the four farms was a “precautionary measure taken to prevent any potential spread of the disease”.
“I must stress again that poultry keepers in the area must be extremely vigilant, practice the highest levels of biosecurity and report any suspicions of disease to their local Animal Health office,” said Landeg.
DEFRA are also considering what should be done about 30,000 free range geese at a farm two miles from the confirmed outbreak at Redgrave Park.
The strain of H5N1 found at Redgrave Park has been confirmed to be similar to that found in Germany and the Czech Republic during the summer this year. DEFRA said it is carrying out a full epidemiological investigation of the current outbreak to find out how the strain got onto the farm.
Meanwhile, the national ban on bird gatherings “remains firmly in place” said DEFRA. Movement of poultry is restricted within the 2 mile protection zone, the 6 mile surveillance zone and the wider restriction zone around Redgrove Park, although some low-risk movements are being allowed under general licence.
Licences have been granted from Animal Health that allow movement of poultry to slaughter into the surveillance zone from outside; movement of table eggs to packing centres; and movement of day old chicks out of the surveillance zone.
The deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu has killed about 200 people around the world, most of them in Asia. Nobody has died of bird flu in Europe.
It is very difficult to catch bird flu, you have to handle a sick or infected bird. However, the reason so much attention is being paid to this particular strain is that many experts believe it is just a matter of time before it mutates into a form that passes readily from human to human, and when that happens it will start a world pandemic that will kill millions, like the Spanish flu did last century.
According to DEFRA this is the fourth outbreak of bird flu in the UK this year. Only one of the previous outbreaks was the deadly H5N1 form, on a Bernard Matthews turkey farm in Upper Holton Suffolk, in February. The other two were in May, an H7N2 strain in North Wales and in June, an H7 strain in Merseyside.
Written by: Catharine Paddock