AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
Re: Bird flu (H5N1) in Norfolk Confirmed, November 12 +
The uppercase "FULL" was in the original article....
Wild birds linked to outbreak
News | 16 November, 2007
By Alistair Driver
A FULL epidemiological investigation is underway to establish how the H5N1 avian flu virus arrived in Suffolk for the second time this year.
February?s outbreak at a Bernard Matthews farm, at Holton, was probably caused by imported turkey meat from Hungary, a Defra investigation concluded. The early indications this time round are that the virus arrived via migrating birds, according to Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg.
He stressed, however, that Defra was keeping an ?open mind as to the origin? and that ?all potential sources of the origin would be investigated?.
Initial sequencing of the virus suggested it was ?closely related? to outbreaks in the Czech Republic and Germany this summer, which Mr Landeg said ?does suggest a possible wild bird source?.
He said there was a lake with a number of wildfowl on it near to where Redgrave Park Farm?s free range turkeys were kept.
In a statement, Geoffrey Buchanan, operations director at Redgrave Poultry, which runs the farm, said the turkeys were prevented from accessing the lake by ?permanent electric fences, empty ground and a farm road?. He said all the turkeys? feed and water was provided indoors to discourage wildfowl.
The wild bird theory has been questioned by conservationist groups and some scientists. RSPB conservation director Mark Avery, said such claims may prove ?too hasty?.
He said most migrating birds had arrived for the winter and no dead wild birds had been found to be carrying avian flu. There had also been no recent reports of wild birds dying of the disease on their migration routes to the UK, he said.
Other possible routes of infection include imports of meat products, live poultry for rearing in this country or feed and transmission by humans who have visited infected areas.
Mr Buchanan said Redgrave Poultry did not import turkey poults and that its feed was produced in the UK. ?All our poults are from hatcheries in the UK,? he said.
He said the company was ?fully supporting? Defra and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in their investigation.
NFU poultry chairman Charles Bourns said if the virus had arrived in wild birds, there was a ?real possibility of further spread?. He said it was advisable for farmers with free range birds to keep them indoors, particularly if they were near water used by wild birds.
Government and industry also moved to reassure consumers that poultry meat remained safe to eat, amid fears the avian flu outbreak could have a disastrous impact on Christmas turkey sales.
The Food Standards Agency, said in a statement that the outbreak ?has no safety implications for the human food chain? and that ?properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat?.
.
The uppercase "FULL" was in the original article....
Wild birds linked to outbreak
News | 16 November, 2007
By Alistair Driver
A FULL epidemiological investigation is underway to establish how the H5N1 avian flu virus arrived in Suffolk for the second time this year.
February?s outbreak at a Bernard Matthews farm, at Holton, was probably caused by imported turkey meat from Hungary, a Defra investigation concluded. The early indications this time round are that the virus arrived via migrating birds, according to Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg.
He stressed, however, that Defra was keeping an ?open mind as to the origin? and that ?all potential sources of the origin would be investigated?.
Initial sequencing of the virus suggested it was ?closely related? to outbreaks in the Czech Republic and Germany this summer, which Mr Landeg said ?does suggest a possible wild bird source?.
He said there was a lake with a number of wildfowl on it near to where Redgrave Park Farm?s free range turkeys were kept.
In a statement, Geoffrey Buchanan, operations director at Redgrave Poultry, which runs the farm, said the turkeys were prevented from accessing the lake by ?permanent electric fences, empty ground and a farm road?. He said all the turkeys? feed and water was provided indoors to discourage wildfowl.
The wild bird theory has been questioned by conservationist groups and some scientists. RSPB conservation director Mark Avery, said such claims may prove ?too hasty?.
He said most migrating birds had arrived for the winter and no dead wild birds had been found to be carrying avian flu. There had also been no recent reports of wild birds dying of the disease on their migration routes to the UK, he said.
Other possible routes of infection include imports of meat products, live poultry for rearing in this country or feed and transmission by humans who have visited infected areas.
Mr Buchanan said Redgrave Poultry did not import turkey poults and that its feed was produced in the UK. ?All our poults are from hatcheries in the UK,? he said.
He said the company was ?fully supporting? Defra and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in their investigation.
NFU poultry chairman Charles Bourns said if the virus had arrived in wild birds, there was a ?real possibility of further spread?. He said it was advisable for farmers with free range birds to keep them indoors, particularly if they were near water used by wild birds.
Government and industry also moved to reassure consumers that poultry meat remained safe to eat, amid fears the avian flu outbreak could have a disastrous impact on Christmas turkey sales.
The Food Standards Agency, said in a statement that the outbreak ?has no safety implications for the human food chain? and that ?properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat?.
.
