Defra confirms avian flu at Yorkshire duck farm where 6,000 birds face slaughter
Peter Walker and Arthur Nelsen, Guardian Sustainable Business
17th November 2014
Government scientists are investigating whether an outbreak of avian flu on a duck farm in Yorkshire is connected to a highly contagious strain in chickens in the Netherlands, as officials stressed the threat to humans remains extremely low.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said on Monday that a form of avian flu had been confirmed at the farm in the Driffield area of east Yorkshire. About 6,000 ducks will be killed and officials have placed a 10km (6 miles) surveillance zone around the farm, which bred ducks for egg production, not meat.
A DEFRA spokesman said the virus had been confirmed as a form of the H5 type of avian flu, but it was not the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, which has caused intermittent worldwide alarm and can often be fatal if caught by humans. Confirmation of the virus type is expected early this week.
Dutch authorities said on Sunday that the H5N8 strain, which has never been detected in humans but has caused the mass slaughter of birds in Asia, had been found among chickens at an egg farm in the village of Hekendorp in the central Netherlands.
Scientists at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey, are liaising with their Dutch counterparts to see if there is a connection, DEFRA said. A spokesman said: “The experts in the laboratory at Weybridge are in close contact with the experts in Holland and are investigating that.”
It is the first serious case of bird flu since 2008, when the H7N7 strain was found in free-range laying hens near Banbury, Oxfordshire.
The Government’s chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, told the BBC that the bird flu in the Netherlands was “our most likely source” for the Yorkshire outbreak, which was in part why there was minimal fear for human health.
He said: “The people dealing with the birds directly, that’s the highest risk, and we’ll be working to make sure that they’re protected with proper hygiene precautions as they’re handling the birds. The main focus is to protect our bird flock rather than any risk to public health.”
The farm, in the village of Nafferton, is run by a Lincolnshire-based specialist food company called Cherry Valley, which describes itself as “your one stop shop for all your duck needs”.
John Vernam, the company’s head of UK operations, said culling and disinfection would take place under the direction of DEFRA and the APHA. As well as the surveillance zone there was also a 3km protection zone around the farm.
Defra said it hoped to contain the Yorkshire outbreak and called the public health risk “very low”. It said: “We are taking immediate and robust action, which includes introducing a 10km restriction zone and culling all poultry on the farm to prevent any potential spread of infection. A detailed investigation is ongoing. We have a strong track record of controlling and eliminating previous outbreaks of avian flu in the UK.”
The environment secretary, Liz Truss, will make a statement to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon about the situation, Downing Street said.
Gary Lavis, the chair of the parish council, said an apparent problem was first noticed about a week ago when egg production began dropping and birds began dying in greater numbers than usual.
In the Netherlands, the destruction of 150,000 hens and disinfection of their holding areas has begun after the outbreak of the H5N8 strain, with Dutch authorities announcing a 72-hour standstill in all exports of meat and eggs from chickens on the infected farm.
Sixteen other farms within a 10km protection zone are being checked for traces of bird flu and residents have been ordered to stay indoors.
So far no crossover transmission of the virus between animals and humans has been reported, and two farms have already been given a clean bill of health, according to Dutch media reports.
“We can only call on all farmers to abide by these rules and respect the security zone,” a Dutch diplomat told the Guardian. “We are following all the rules in the regulatory framework. Let’s just hope for the best. I don’t think there is any link with outbreaks in any other country, but it is not for us to say. That would be a bit presumptuous.”
The European Commission is discussing further protective measures that could be taken to contain the outbreak, such as wider export bans. But a spokesman, Enrico Brivio, played down the likelihood of a dramatic intervention, before food safety experts conduct a stock-take of the situation on Thursday.
“We are reviewing the measures taken by the national authorities and for the moment we consider them adequate – both those taken by the Dutch and the British authorities,” he said.
The Yorkshire outbreak was a very different situation to the one in Hekendorp, because of the lower density of poultry in the area, he said. “In all likelihood, the cause [of the Dutch outbreak] was an infected migratory wild bird,” Brivio added, “but that is far from being certain.”
A DEFRA spokesman said the virus had been confirmed as a form of the H5 type of avian flu, but it was not the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, which has caused intermittent worldwide alarm and can often be fatal if caught by humans. Confirmation of the virus type is expected early this week.
Dutch authorities said on Sunday that the H5N8 strain, which has never been detected in humans but has caused the mass slaughter of birds in Asia, had been found among chickens at an egg farm in the village of Hekendorp in the central Netherlands.
Scientists at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey, are liaising with their Dutch counterparts to see if there is a connection, DEFRA said. A spokesman said: “The experts in the laboratory at Weybridge are in close contact with the experts in Holland and are investigating that.”
It is the first serious case of bird flu since 2008, when the H7N7 strain was found in free-range laying hens near Banbury, Oxfordshire.
The Government’s chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, told the BBC that the bird flu in the Netherlands was “our most likely source” for the Yorkshire outbreak, which was in part why there was minimal fear for human health.
He said: “The people dealing with the birds directly, that’s the highest risk, and we’ll be working to make sure that they’re protected with proper hygiene precautions as they’re handling the birds. The main focus is to protect our bird flock rather than any risk to public health.”
The farm, in the village of Nafferton, is run by a Lincolnshire-based specialist food company called Cherry Valley, which describes itself as “your one stop shop for all your duck needs”.
John Vernam, the company’s head of UK operations, said culling and disinfection would take place under the direction of DEFRA and the APHA. As well as the surveillance zone there was also a 3km protection zone around the farm.
Defra said it hoped to contain the Yorkshire outbreak and called the public health risk “very low”. It said: “We are taking immediate and robust action, which includes introducing a 10km restriction zone and culling all poultry on the farm to prevent any potential spread of infection. A detailed investigation is ongoing. We have a strong track record of controlling and eliminating previous outbreaks of avian flu in the UK.”
The environment secretary, Liz Truss, will make a statement to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon about the situation, Downing Street said.
Gary Lavis, the chair of the parish council, said an apparent problem was first noticed about a week ago when egg production began dropping and birds began dying in greater numbers than usual.
In the Netherlands, the destruction of 150,000 hens and disinfection of their holding areas has begun after the outbreak of the H5N8 strain, with Dutch authorities announcing a 72-hour standstill in all exports of meat and eggs from chickens on the infected farm.
Sixteen other farms within a 10km protection zone are being checked for traces of bird flu and residents have been ordered to stay indoors.
So far no crossover transmission of the virus between animals and humans has been reported, and two farms have already been given a clean bill of health, according to Dutch media reports.
“We can only call on all farmers to abide by these rules and respect the security zone,” a Dutch diplomat told the Guardian. “We are following all the rules in the regulatory framework. Let’s just hope for the best. I don’t think there is any link with outbreaks in any other country, but it is not for us to say. That would be a bit presumptuous.”
The European Commission is discussing further protective measures that could be taken to contain the outbreak, such as wider export bans. But a spokesman, Enrico Brivio, played down the likelihood of a dramatic intervention, before food safety experts conduct a stock-take of the situation on Thursday.
“We are reviewing the measures taken by the national authorities and for the moment we consider them adequate – both those taken by the Dutch and the British authorities,” he said.
The Yorkshire outbreak was a very different situation to the one in Hekendorp, because of the lower density of poultry in the area, he said. “In all likelihood, the cause [of the Dutch outbreak] was an infected migratory wild bird,” Brivio added, “but that is far from being certain.”
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6,000 ducks are to be culled at a farm in Yorkshire following an outbreak of bird flu
