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Re: Bird flu in Norfolk Confirmed, November 12 +
Infected turkeys 'have deadly avian flu strain'
<!-- END: Module - Main Heading --><!--CMA user Call Diffrenet Variation Of Image --><!-- BEGIN: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image (a) --><!-- getting the section url from article. This has been done so that correct url isgenerated if we are coming from a section or topic --><!-- Print Author name associated with the article --><!-- Print Author name from By Line associated with the article -->Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor of The Times
<!-- END: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image --><!-- Article Copy module --><!-- BEGIN: Module - Main Article --><!-- Check the Article Type and display accordingly--><!-- Print Author image associated with the Author--><!-- Print the body of the article--><!-- Pagination --><!--Display article with page breaks -->Initial tests at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency suggest that free-range turkeys on a Suffolk farm are infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu which is potentially dangerous to humans.
Official confirmation about the strain is expected shortly in a statement from Fred Landeg, acting Government chief veterinary officer.
The move will send shockwaves to the poultry industry in East Anglia where millions of birds are being reared for Christmas.
Government orders have already gone out for all free-range birds for meat and eggs in Suffolk and part of Norfolk to be locked indoors to protect them from the fatal virus.
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<!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --><!-- Call Wide Article Attachment Module --><!--TEMPLATE:call file="wideArticleAttachment.jsp" /-->Hobby farmers with backyard flocks are also being visited by local animal health officers urging them to keep birds inside.
This is the first outbreak of the deadly virus in the UK since February when the disease was found in turkey chicks at the Bernard Matthews plant, in Holton, also in Suffolk.
The infected turkeys were being reared outdoors at Redgrave Park Farm, Redgrave, outside Diss, on the Suffolk-Norfolk border, for Gressingham Foods for the Christmas market.
Five male poultry workers at the farm have already been treated with Tamiflu the anti-viral treatment to combat avian flu. They are all employed by Gressingham Foods.
The news of the deadly strain of the virus has been taken calmly by staff, said Geoffrey Buchanan, a spokesman for the company, who with his brother, William, runs the farm. They were not personally in contact with the birds.
Since 2003, more than 300 people have become infected with the deadly virus, and more than half have died.
The Buchanans are now anxiously working with state vets to find out how the virus arrived at the premises. Wild birds are thought to be the most likely route for transmission of the disease especially as wild swans and ducks regularly gather at the farm. There is also a lake within a mile from the family which is another favourite gathering place for birds.
Ornithological experts are working with epidemiological veterinarians to find out the species most likely to have carried the virus to Britain and the possible flight paths from the continent.
But experts are also checking every possible route of the virus including movements of vehicles, staff and birds to the farm and any possible link to recent cases this autumn in southern Germany.
Tests on other wild birds are also being stepped up to see if the virus is circulating in the bird population. To date, however, there has not been one positive test for avian flu on birds in the UK even though sampling increased at the end of the summer to coincide with the return migration of birds to the UK for the winter.
The most recent H5N1 avian flu outbreak this year was near Munich in September. Some 300,000 ducks were slaughtered at poultry farms after the disease was found in frozen products.
The eight-week-old bronze turkeys at Redgrave Park Farm were destined for upmarket restaurants and some go to Waitrose. TV chefs Delia Smith, Gordon Ramsay and Antony Worrall Thompson are “fans” of the birds, according to the company website.
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<!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --><!-- Call Wide Article Attachment Module --><!--TEMPLATE:call file="wideArticleAttachment.jsp" /-->A cull of more than 6,000 birds is to start as quickly as possible but there are logistical problems associated with this farm. A Whitehall source said: “The conditions on site are very challenging.”
There is no electricity and only one tap. Vets, animal health workers and slaughtermen have to shower and change clothing before and after contact with the birds.
Generators, mobile showers and lavatory blocks, protective kits as well as the mobilised gas containers for the humane slaughter of the birds are currently being requisitioned and deployed to the site.
The culling operation was over within 48 hours at the Bernard Matthews plant because the firm has its own abattoir facility at the processing plant that was adjacent to the rearing shed for the turkey chicks.
The alarm was raised at the farm on Sunday when 60 birds in a flock of 1,000 birds were found dead. The high mortality rate aroused the suspicions of the company vet, Daniel Parker, one of the leading poultry vets in the country, who immediately believed he was dealing with avian flu and most likely the H5N1 strain.
Some 5,000 turkeys, 1,200 ducks and 400 geese are to be slaughtered.
Charles Bourns, chairman of the National Farmers’ Union poultry board, said: “Everything I am hearing suggests it is H5N1. It is the end of the migration season and there may have been a rogue infected bird but it could be something else. It is certainly worrying for farmers in East Anglia and there are many more birds being reared outside this year because Bernard Matthews has also decided to move into free-range.”
He said:”It may be the Government may have to look more thoroughly about getting free-range birds indoors at the high riks periods for the flu virus.”
He was confident however the outbreak would not affect the birds for the festive season. Some 10 million birds are eaten at Christmas in the UK and of that number some 1.5 million only are traditional free-range fresh turkeys.
“There is no reason for people to panic,” he said.
Infected turkeys 'have deadly avian flu strain'
<!-- END: Module - Main Heading --><!--CMA user Call Diffrenet Variation Of Image --><!-- BEGIN: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image (a) --><!-- getting the section url from article. This has been done so that correct url isgenerated if we are coming from a section or topic --><!-- Print Author name associated with the article --><!-- Print Author name from By Line associated with the article -->Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor of The Times
<!-- END: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image --><!-- Article Copy module --><!-- BEGIN: Module - Main Article --><!-- Check the Article Type and display accordingly--><!-- Print Author image associated with the Author--><!-- Print the body of the article--><!-- Pagination --><!--Display article with page breaks -->Initial tests at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency suggest that free-range turkeys on a Suffolk farm are infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu which is potentially dangerous to humans.
Official confirmation about the strain is expected shortly in a statement from Fred Landeg, acting Government chief veterinary officer.
The move will send shockwaves to the poultry industry in East Anglia where millions of birds are being reared for Christmas.
Government orders have already gone out for all free-range birds for meat and eggs in Suffolk and part of Norfolk to be locked indoors to protect them from the fatal virus.
<!-- BEGIN: POLL --><!-- END : POLL --><!-- BEGIN: DEBATE--><!-- END: DEBATE-->
<!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --><!-- Call Wide Article Attachment Module --><!--TEMPLATE:call file="wideArticleAttachment.jsp" /-->Hobby farmers with backyard flocks are also being visited by local animal health officers urging them to keep birds inside.
This is the first outbreak of the deadly virus in the UK since February when the disease was found in turkey chicks at the Bernard Matthews plant, in Holton, also in Suffolk.
The infected turkeys were being reared outdoors at Redgrave Park Farm, Redgrave, outside Diss, on the Suffolk-Norfolk border, for Gressingham Foods for the Christmas market.
Five male poultry workers at the farm have already been treated with Tamiflu the anti-viral treatment to combat avian flu. They are all employed by Gressingham Foods.
The news of the deadly strain of the virus has been taken calmly by staff, said Geoffrey Buchanan, a spokesman for the company, who with his brother, William, runs the farm. They were not personally in contact with the birds.
Since 2003, more than 300 people have become infected with the deadly virus, and more than half have died.
The Buchanans are now anxiously working with state vets to find out how the virus arrived at the premises. Wild birds are thought to be the most likely route for transmission of the disease especially as wild swans and ducks regularly gather at the farm. There is also a lake within a mile from the family which is another favourite gathering place for birds.
Ornithological experts are working with epidemiological veterinarians to find out the species most likely to have carried the virus to Britain and the possible flight paths from the continent.
But experts are also checking every possible route of the virus including movements of vehicles, staff and birds to the farm and any possible link to recent cases this autumn in southern Germany.
Tests on other wild birds are also being stepped up to see if the virus is circulating in the bird population. To date, however, there has not been one positive test for avian flu on birds in the UK even though sampling increased at the end of the summer to coincide with the return migration of birds to the UK for the winter.
The most recent H5N1 avian flu outbreak this year was near Munich in September. Some 300,000 ducks were slaughtered at poultry farms after the disease was found in frozen products.
The eight-week-old bronze turkeys at Redgrave Park Farm were destined for upmarket restaurants and some go to Waitrose. TV chefs Delia Smith, Gordon Ramsay and Antony Worrall Thompson are “fans” of the birds, according to the company website.
<!-- BEGIN: POLL --><!-- END : POLL --><!-- BEGIN: DEBATE--><!-- END: DEBATE-->
<!-- END: Module - M63 - Article Related Attachements --><!-- Call Wide Article Attachment Module --><!--TEMPLATE:call file="wideArticleAttachment.jsp" /-->A cull of more than 6,000 birds is to start as quickly as possible but there are logistical problems associated with this farm. A Whitehall source said: “The conditions on site are very challenging.”
There is no electricity and only one tap. Vets, animal health workers and slaughtermen have to shower and change clothing before and after contact with the birds.
Generators, mobile showers and lavatory blocks, protective kits as well as the mobilised gas containers for the humane slaughter of the birds are currently being requisitioned and deployed to the site.
The culling operation was over within 48 hours at the Bernard Matthews plant because the firm has its own abattoir facility at the processing plant that was adjacent to the rearing shed for the turkey chicks.
The alarm was raised at the farm on Sunday when 60 birds in a flock of 1,000 birds were found dead. The high mortality rate aroused the suspicions of the company vet, Daniel Parker, one of the leading poultry vets in the country, who immediately believed he was dealing with avian flu and most likely the H5N1 strain.
Some 5,000 turkeys, 1,200 ducks and 400 geese are to be slaughtered.
Charles Bourns, chairman of the National Farmers’ Union poultry board, said: “Everything I am hearing suggests it is H5N1. It is the end of the migration season and there may have been a rogue infected bird but it could be something else. It is certainly worrying for farmers in East Anglia and there are many more birds being reared outside this year because Bernard Matthews has also decided to move into free-range.”
He said:”It may be the Government may have to look more thoroughly about getting free-range birds indoors at the high riks periods for the flu virus.”
He was confident however the outbreak would not affect the birds for the festive season. Some 10 million birds are eaten at Christmas in the UK and of that number some 1.5 million only are traditional free-range fresh turkeys.
“There is no reason for people to panic,” he said.
Carnage: Dead turkeys at the farm
Outbreak: Turkeys are disposed of
Scenes of death: The dead turkeys are moved
Precautions: A car is disinfected at the entrance to the farm
All the birds at the farm are being culled as a precaution
The top priority is to get controls in place, to inform people of the controls in place 
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