Bird flu: latest on the tests
28 April 2006 11:19
Government officials were today due to release the results of tests on chickens infected with the bird flu virus at a Norfolk poultry farm.
Scientists were working overnight to determine exactly what caused the deaths of birds at Whitford Lodge Farm in Hockering.
Vets have said the virus is believed to be the H7 strain - not the deadly H5N1 which has killed scores of people in Asia in recent months, and this was expected to be confirmed today.
Meanwhile workers at the farm have been offered anti-viral drugs and are being monitored by doctors.
A spokesman for DEFRA said there was no sign anyone had become ill as a result of the emergence of the avian flu virus.
A cull of all 35,000 chickens at the farm, owned by Banham Poultry, which employs 650 people at around 30 farms, is now under way.
It emerged that the chickens were bought from a farm in France back in February.
Dennis Foreman, director of Banham Poultry, said: ?The chicks came from a French supplier that we have used for a long time and never had any problems.
?I am not sure how many other farms the chicks have gone to in Norfolk.?
It emerged today that eggs from the breeder farm had been given to a hatchery in Fakenham, which DEFRA experts were investigating yesterday and which can turn out 600,000 birds every week.
He added: ?Everything is under control now, we have a clean bill of health and we are looking to the future.
?We have great staff here with the bulldog spirit and we are going to roll our sleeves up and carry on.?
A DEFRA spokesman said today: ?There are only restrictions placed on the movement of poultry and poultry products if they are coming from an area infected with bird flu.
?There are no general movement restrictions for countries that are members of the European Union.?
Dr Sue Ibbotson, East Anglian director of the Health Protection Agency, said around a dozen workers at the farm - plus staff involved in the destruction of the birds - were being monitored and offered anti-viral drugs.
?There is no need to panic,? she said. ?People living in the area should carry on with their lives as normal.
?They can still walk in the countryside. They can still eat poultry, providing it is properly cooked.?
Richard Howitt, Norfolk Euro MP, yesterday confirmed Banham Poultry would get compensation for the destruction of the chickens.
[Note: a Q&A follows this.]
http://new.eveningnews24.co.uk/cont...gory=news&itemid=NOED28 Apr 2006 11:21:22:413
28 April 2006 11:19
Government officials were today due to release the results of tests on chickens infected with the bird flu virus at a Norfolk poultry farm.
Scientists were working overnight to determine exactly what caused the deaths of birds at Whitford Lodge Farm in Hockering.
Vets have said the virus is believed to be the H7 strain - not the deadly H5N1 which has killed scores of people in Asia in recent months, and this was expected to be confirmed today.
Meanwhile workers at the farm have been offered anti-viral drugs and are being monitored by doctors.
A spokesman for DEFRA said there was no sign anyone had become ill as a result of the emergence of the avian flu virus.
A cull of all 35,000 chickens at the farm, owned by Banham Poultry, which employs 650 people at around 30 farms, is now under way.
It emerged that the chickens were bought from a farm in France back in February.
Dennis Foreman, director of Banham Poultry, said: ?The chicks came from a French supplier that we have used for a long time and never had any problems.
?I am not sure how many other farms the chicks have gone to in Norfolk.?
It emerged today that eggs from the breeder farm had been given to a hatchery in Fakenham, which DEFRA experts were investigating yesterday and which can turn out 600,000 birds every week.
He added: ?Everything is under control now, we have a clean bill of health and we are looking to the future.
?We have great staff here with the bulldog spirit and we are going to roll our sleeves up and carry on.?
A DEFRA spokesman said today: ?There are only restrictions placed on the movement of poultry and poultry products if they are coming from an area infected with bird flu.
?There are no general movement restrictions for countries that are members of the European Union.?
Dr Sue Ibbotson, East Anglian director of the Health Protection Agency, said around a dozen workers at the farm - plus staff involved in the destruction of the birds - were being monitored and offered anti-viral drugs.
?There is no need to panic,? she said. ?People living in the area should carry on with their lives as normal.
?They can still walk in the countryside. They can still eat poultry, providing it is properly cooked.?
Richard Howitt, Norfolk Euro MP, yesterday confirmed Banham Poultry would get compensation for the destruction of the chickens.
[Note: a Q&A follows this.]
http://new.eveningnews24.co.uk/cont...gory=news&itemid=NOED28 Apr 2006 11:21:22:413