Sally Furniss
Well-known member
Final Suffolk bird flu report due
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6570351.stm
The final government report on February's bird flu outbreak at a Bernard Matthews turkey farm in Suffolk is due to be published.
It will conclude that the most likely cause was infected meat from Hungary, says BBC correspondent Sarah Mukherjee.
It will also say how much compensation Bernard Matthews will receive for the healthy turkeys slaughtered to prevent the disease spreading.
Industry sources say the firm could receive more than ?600,000.
Control measures
Vets were called to the Bernard Matthews farm, in Holton, Suffolk on 1 February, and cases of the highly virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu were discovered.
Some 2,600 turkeys died of the disease and 160,000 birds were slaughtered following the outbreak in February.
The company laid off dozens of workers after a sharp downturn in sales.
In a subsequent report, government scientists listed various failings at the Suffolk site, including gulls carrying waste away from it.
There were also hygiene failings, they said, such as the farm and slaughterhouse being close together.
The company said it would improve bio security but insisted it had not broken any rules.
Last month the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) lifted all remaining control measures at the plant, with poultry movement and sales allowed again in the area.
Bernard Matthews took out full-page adverts in several newspapers, telling the public: "My turkey is completely safe to eat."