Bird flu (H5N1) in Norfolk Confirmed, November 12 +

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

6pm GMT update

<HR noShade SIZE=1>Bird flu outbreak prompts poultry cull



Bird flu: interactive guide

David Batty and agencies
Monday November 12, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=140 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD><TD>
Thousands of birds are to be culled after an outbreak of bird flu at a Suffolk poultry farm. Photograph: Fernando Vergara/AP
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Five thousand birds are to be slaughtered at a farm in Suffolk, east England, following an outbreak of bird flu, the government said today.
Turkeys on the farm near Diss, on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk, had the H5 strain of bird flu, according to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Further tests are being carried out to see whether the birds had the H5N1 strain of the virus, which has killed 205 people since 2003 - mainly in Asia. The infected farm also houses ducks and geese, which will also be slaughtered.
A 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone have been set up around the infected farm. Inside these zones bird movements will be restricted and all birds must be housed or otherwise isolated from contact with wild birds.

The government's deputy chief veterinary officer, Fred Landeg, said the cause of the infection was not yet known and urged all poultry farmers to be vigilant.
He told Sky News: "Everybody needs to be concerned, this is avian influenza. We are asking every poultry keeper to be vigilant, to house their birds where they are required to do so in any restricted area and carry out good biosecurity measures and report any signs of disease."
Landeg said the investigation into the outbreak, which is in its early stages, would try to establish its origin.
He said: "We will be looking at the movements on to the premises and off the premises of birds and movements of people, vehicles and things, to see whether there is another origin somewhere in the country or whether the disease could have spread."
Officers from the Animal Health agency will be checking other farms within the protection zone to see whether their birds are also affected.
Landeg played down the likelihood of a link to the outbreak in February this year at a Bernard Matthews farm in Holton, Suffolk.
It was too early to tell whether there was any significance to be drawn from the proximity of the February outbreak and the latest outbreak, the official added.
He said: "We think that this is a new introduction onto this premises and we will be looking at any possible links to establish where it may have come from and where it might have spread to."
Waterfowl, ducks, swans and geese have previously been infected. But death from H5N1 has also been reported in crows, ravens, thrushes, starlings, sparrows, pigeons, doves, hawks, falcons, eagles and owls. Dogs and cats have also been infected.
In the vast majority of H5N1 cases worldwide victims have fallen ill after having prolonged and close contact with infected birds, either through keeping poultry domestically or butchering them. There is limited evidence that the virus has spread between humans.
The virus is fragile and easily destroyed by cooking, so it is almost impossible to catch from cooked meat, according to the Food Standards Agency.
The Conservative shadow environment secretary, Peter Ainsworth, said: "This is yet another nightmare for the farming community and we can only hope that this is an isolated case.
"Farmers have endured so much this year, the last thing they need is an outbreak of bird flu in the run-up to Christmas."
The Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Chris Huhne said: "Another outbreak of bird flu after the Bernard Matthews incident makes it a hat-trick of horror stories for British farming this year: foot and mouth, bluetongue and now bird flu again.
"Ministers must pull out all the stops to contain this outbreak and identify its source. Despite the discovery of serious failings in procedures during the last outbreak at Bernard Matthews, no one was prosecuted. Let us hope that the same sort of mistakes have not been made here."
The president of the National Farmers Union, Peter Kendall, said the outbreak was "another huge blow to the farming industry", which was still dealing with the effects of bluetongue and foot and mouth.
He said: "We fully support the measures Defra have put in place in the protection and surveillance zones and we will be working with them to make sure producers within the zones understand the implications of the restrictions. "But it is important to remember avian influenza is a disease of birds. There is no reason for public concern and the Food Standards Agency says there are no risks from eating poultry meat and eggs provided they are cooked properly as, of course, all food should be."
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[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/11120702/H5_Norfolk_Acute.html

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

Bird flu confirmed on poultry farm near Diss

MICHAEL POLLITT, EDP RURAL AFFAIRS EDITOR
12 November 2007
Bird flu has been confirmed in a flock of turkeys on a poultry farm at Redgrave, near Diss, said Defra today.

The birds tested positive for the H5 strain of avian flu in premises close to the Norfolk and Suffolk border.

The premises also contain ducks and geese and all the birds will be slaughtered. There are about 5,000 turkeys in a rearing flock, which will be slaughtered.

Defra has imposed a 3km and a 10km surveillance zone around the premises. And poultry keepers have been urged by acting chief vet, Fred Landeg, to house all their birds as a precaution.

Tests are being carried out to check whether the H5 strain is the high pathogenic or a low pathogenic strain.

All poultry keepers on the GB Poultry Register will be notified, and the EU Commission has been informed.

Suffolk County Council, which is the lead local authority, called a meeting at 4pm, and will be implenting control measures on behalf of Defra.

While bird flu has no direct implications for human health, the Food Standards Agency advice remains that properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

All avian influenzas (H1 to H16) can be low pathogenic but only H5 and H7 are known to become highly pathogenic.

The last case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu was detected in turkeys at a Bernard Matthews farm at Holton, near Halesworth, in early February. A total of 160,000 birds were slaughtered there as a precaution.

However, this latest case definitely does not involve birds from Bernard Matthews.

Ironically, industry leaders were attending a poultry health meeting with senior officials at Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs this afternoon.

http://www.dissmercury.co.uk/content/dissmercury/news/story.aspx?brand=DMAOnline&category=news&tBrand=DMAonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED12%20Nov%202007%2015%3A49%3A10%3A607

[vinny]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

according to some so called specialist on itv news,the wild birds that are migrating,cannot carry the virus,if it ever does become a major human problem the state of information over here in the uk will cost this country a lot of deaths.

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

according to some so called specialist on itv news,the wild birds that are migrating,cannot carry the virus,if it ever does become a major human problem the state of information over here in the uk will cost this country a lot of deaths.

Yes, that myth is frequently broadcast by the popular press.

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

Bird flu outbreak in England confirmed
British officials say strain of the disease has been found in turkeys
The Associated Press
updated 2:06 p.m. ET, Mon., Nov. 12, 2007
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LONDON - British officials on Monday confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in turkeys on a farm in eastern England.
The department said the turkeys had tested positive for the H5 subtype of the disease. It was not yet known whether it was the H5N1 strain, which has killed dozens of people around the world.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said a two-mile protection zone and a six-mile surveillance zone had been set up around a farm in Diss, about 100 miles northeast of London, and all 5,000 turkeys, geese and ducks on the premises would be slaughtered.
Within these zones bird movements will be restricted and all birds must be housed or otherwise isolated from contact with wild birds, DEFRA said, adding that the European Union had been informed.
In February, an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu on a poultry farm in the same part of England led to the slaughter of almost 160,000 turkeys.
No definitive source was found for that outbreak, which matched a strain that had earlier infected geese in southern Hungary.
"It appears to have been detected quite early, " Britain's deputy chief veterinary officer Fred Landeg told British Broadcasting Corp. television, discussing the most recent outbreak. "But we have to establish whether there is any other infection in the area, we have to establish the source of the infection, and we have to establish whether the disease has spread any further."
Landeg said the virus might have been spread by wild birds, by animals at another farm, or by the circulation of contaminated poultry products.

Britain's first case of H5N1 flu was in a swan in Scotland in 2006.
Bird flu has killed or prompted the culling of millions of birds worldwide since late 2003, when it first began ravaging Asian poultry stocks. It has killed at least 205 people worldwide, but remains hard for humans to catch. Experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a pandemic. Experts think most human cases are due to contact with infected birds.
The bird flu outbreak is the latest in a string of bad news for the British farming industry, which is still recovering from outbreaks of foot-and-mouth and blue-tongue disease over the summer. Neither disease affects humans, but both can sicken animals, and the restrictions and slaughter of livestock imposed in their wake have cost farmers millions of pounds (dollars; euros).
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[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

Bird flu 'nightmare' hits turkey farm in UK

12/11/2007 - 7:13:04 PM

The farming industry was dealt another blow tonight as a new case of bird flu was discovered in turkeys.

Some 5,000 birds, including ducks and geese, were due to be culled after turkeys tested positive for the contagious H5 strain of the virus on a farm on the Norfolk/Suffolk border.

It is not yet known whether the birds were infected with a highly pathogenic form of the disease.

The discovery of the virus on the free-range farm, named by sources as Grange Farm, Redgrave, owned by Gressingham Foods, comes after a summer of misery for the farming industry already hit by foot and mouth and bluetongue.

But farming leaders moved to allay concerns that the new outbreak would lead to a shortage of turkeys in the run up to Christmas.

And the Food Standard Agency reassured consumers tonight that poultry products remain safe to eat as long as they are properly cooked.

Bird flu rarely affects humans and can only be transmitted to people through close contact with infected birds.

The Environment Department said a 3km (1.9 mile) protection zone and a 10km (6 mile) surveillance zone had been set up around the infected premises.

Inside the zones, bird movements have been restricted and all birds must be housed and isolated from wild birds, Defra said.

The EU commission has been informed, while all poultry keepers on the GB poultry register will be notified, Defra added.

Deputy chief veterinary officer Fred Landeg said the cause of the infection was not known at the moment and he urged all poultry farmers to remain vigilant.

“Everybody needs to be concerned, this is avian influenza.

“We are asking every poultry keeper to be vigilant, to house their birds where they are required to do so in any restricted area and carry out good bio-security measures and report any signs of disease.”

Dr Landeg stressed that the epidemiological investigation into the outbreak, which is at a rearing unit, would try to establish its origin but that it was still at a very early stage.

He said: “We will be looking at the movements on to the premises and off the premises of birds and movements of people, vehicles and things, to see whether there is another origin somewhere in the country or whether the disease could have spread.”

National Farmers’ Union president Peter Kendall said: “Obviously this is another huge blow to the farming industry, which is still dealing with the effects of bluetongue and foot and mouth, and we will be working closely with Defra to do all we can to contain and eradicate this disease as quickly as possible.

“We fully support the measures Defra have put in place in the protection and surveillance zones and we will be working with them to make sure producers within the zones understand the implications of the restrictions.”

Charles Bourns, chairman of the NFU’s poultry board, added: “This is obviously worrying for that part of the world.

“This problem comes on top of everything else going on, such as high food prices, so it’s worrying and concerning.”

But he said: “We have proved from the last two years that bird flu can be held on the one farm so hopefully that can be done this time.”

Shadow environment secretary Peter Ainsworth described the bird flu outbreak - the first incidence of the H5 strain in the UK since 159,000 turkeys were slaughtered at a Bernard Matthews farm in February – as “another nightmare” for the farming community.

And Lib Dem environment spokesman Chris Huhne said: “Another outbreak of bird flu after the Bernard Matthews incident makes it a hat-trick of horror stories for British farming this year: foot and mouth, bluetongue and now bird flu again.

“Ministers must pull out all the stops to contain this outbreak and identify its source.”

The RSPB’s Andre Farrar warned against jumping to the conclusion that the disease had spread to poultry from wild birds.

The autumn migration was largely over, and no wild birds had been found with avian flu in Europe since late August/early September, he added.

“Last time people went on a mad whirl of speculation on how wild birds had moved the virus and it turned out not to be the case,” he said.

“How it got into this farm needs to be a matter of urgent scrutiny.”

Two police officers were tonight standing outside the farm, monitoring the vehicles entering and leaving.

The vehicles were being sprayed with a jet hose as they entered the premises.

http://www.eecho.ie/news/story/?trs=mhmhgbcwauau

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

http://www.greenlabel.co.uk/

Welcome to Gressingham Foods, the exclusive home of the Gressingham Duck, a unique breed of duck renowned by top chefs for its succulent meat and fantastic gamey flavour.

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

http://www.greenlabel.co.uk/


Welcome to Gressingham Foods, the exclusive home of the Gressingham Duck, a unique breed of duck renowned by top chefs for its succulent meat and fantastic gamey flavour.

The Gressingham Duck was created by crossing the Wild Mallard with the Pekin variety of duck. The result was a duck bursting with wonderfully succulent flavoursome meat?and a lot more of it than other breeds. In fact, a Gressingham Duck has approximately 20% more breast meat than other ducks of the same weight!
No wonder top chefs including Delia Smith, Gordon Ramsay and Antony Worrall Thompson are fans.
The Gressingham Duck is the first choice for hotels and restaurants throughout the UK and it is often featured by name on their menus.
All Gressingham Ducks are carefully bred, hatched, reared and processed by Gressingham Foods in a small area of East Anglia, using an integrated farming system which guarantees complete traceability for you, the customer. They are fed a natural diet which includes no growth enhancers or antibiotics.

http://www.greenlabel.co.uk/default.asp?MIS=13

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

We rear Gressingham geese from September through to January each year in small flocks on selected farms in Suffolk.
Although our breed of goose has a higher percentage of meat to fat than other types of goose, it retains a wonderful succulence and tenderness.
Gressingham geese are fed on a wheat-based ration supplemented with minerals and vitamins but containing no growth enhancers or antibiotics. All feed is sourced from mills that are Agricultural Industries Confederation (formerly UKASTA) registered.

http://www.greenlabel.co.uk/default.asp?MIS=14

We rear our Pekin ducks with the same high levels of care as our Gressingham Ducks and geese.

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

In quotes: the bird flu outbreak
A fresh case of bird flu has been discovered at a farm in Suffolk. Around 5,000 turkeys, geese and ducks have already been slaughtered and an exclusion zone set up around the affected area.
The outbreak has caused concern in the farming industry which has recently been hit hard by cases of foot-and-moth and blue tongue disease. Here is some of the reaction from farmers, scientists and others.

<!--Sch1-->PETER KENDALL, NFU PRESIDENT <!--Ech1-->
We fully support the measures Defra have put in place in the protection and surveillance zones and we will be working with them to make sure producers within the zones understand the implications of the restrictions.
But it is important to remember Avian Influenza is a disease of birds. There is no reason for public concern and the Food Standards Agency says there are no risks from eating poultry meat and eggs provided they are cooked properly as, of course, all food should be.

<!--Sch1-->NICK BLAYNEY, PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH VETERINARY ASSOCIATION <!--Ech1-->
The news that AI has been confirmed in turkeys on a premises near Diss while clearly of concern, does at least underline the vital importance of surveillance.
While we await the outcome of further tests designed to identify the strain of H5 virus we would urge, particularly since this is the first case of AI in the UK since last June, the need for vigilance.
It is important, not least for domestic flock owners in the vicinity, that they protect their birds by following basic bio security precautions.

<!--Sch1-->PROF IAN JONES, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, SCHOOL OF ANIMAL AND MICROBIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF READING <!--Ech1-->
Another outbreak was to be expected at some time but the source will be interesting and may be suggested when the sequence is confirmed.
It is a bit early for migratory birds but this is an option assuming the turkeys were outside. It is obviously regrettable ahead of Christmas but there is no reason why it should not be contained at this stage.

<!--Sch1-->DR JIM ROBERTSON, NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL STANDARDS BOARD <!--Ech1-->
It must be very depressing for those involved to be hit by yet another veterinary infectious disease outbreak.
However, the UK authorities must now have good experience in tackling this situation and use that experience for the effective containment of infection, rapid analysis of the virus, analysis of the origin of the infection and ultimately the control and eradication of the outbreak.

<!--Sch1-->ANDRE FARRAR, ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS <!--Ech1-->
Last time people went on a mad whirl of speculation on how wild birds had moved the virus and it turned out not to be the case. How it got into this farm needs to be a matter of urgent scrutiny

<!--Sch1-->PETER AINSWORTH MP, CONSERVATIVE ENVIRONMENT SPOKESMAN <!--Ech1-->
This is yet another nightmare for the farming community and we can only hope that this is an isolated case. Farmers have endured so much this year, the last thing they need is an outbreak of bird flu in the run-up to Christmas. .

<!--Sch1-->CHRIS HUHNE MP, LIBERAL DEMOCRAT ENVIRONMENT SPOKESMAN <!--Ech1-->
Another outbreak of bird flu after the Bernard Matthews incident makes it a hat-trick of horror stories for British farming this year: foot and mouth, bluetongue and now bird flu again. Ministers must pull out all the stops to contain this outbreak and identify its source.


Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7091531.stm

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

Although most media reports have focused on the turkeys, the website for the corporation that owns the farm is focused on ducks and geese.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

We rear Gressingham geese from September through to January each year in small flocks on selected farms in Suffolk.
Although our breed of goose has a higher percentage of meat to fat than other types of goose, it retains a wonderful succulence and tenderness.
Gressingham geese are fed on a wheat-based ration supplemented with minerals and vitamins but containing no growth enhancers or antibiotics. All feed is sourced from mills that are Agricultural Industries Confederation (formerly UKASTA) registered.

http://www.greenlabel.co.uk/default.asp?MIS=14

We rear our Pekin ducks with the same high levels of care as our Gressingham Ducks and geese.

Turkeys?

May be this is the owner of the farm:

Processors of poultry.

www.kerrygroup.com

Grange Farm,

Redgrave,

Diss,

Norfolk,

IP22 1SA.

http://directory.foodbureau.com/items.php?id=1190&c=130

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

Turkeys?

May be this is the owner of the farm:

Processors of poultry.

www.kerrygroup.com

Grange Farm,

Redgrave,

Diss,

Norfolk,

IP22 1SA.

http://directory.foodbureau.com/items.php?id=1190&c=130

The discovery of the virus on the free-range farm, named by sources as Grange Farm, Redgrave, owned by Gressingham Foods,

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, november 12 +

The discovery of the virus on the free-range farm, named by sources as Grange Farm, Redgrave, owned by Gressingham Foods,

There appear to be TWO Grange Farms at Redgrave. Maybe this is where the press are getting confused.

http://www.multimap.com/map/places.c...dgrave%2C+Diss[/QUOTE]

Thanks to Chickchick