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Biosecurity Briefing
H5N1 Outbreak in UK Turkeys Confirmed By Molly D’Esopo, November 16, 2007 On November 12, 2007, the Associated Press (AP) reported a confirmed outbreak of avian flu in turkeys on a farm in eastern England. AP reported plans to slaughter all poultry on the farm—some 5,000 geese, ducks, and turkeys. Additionally, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs imposed a two-mile protection zone and a six-mile surveillance zone in which “bird movements will be restricted and all birds must be housed or otherwise isolated from contact with wild birds.”1 A subsequent article in TIME confirmed that the highly virulent H5N1 avian flu strain was the source of the outbreak, and that the farm on which the outbreak was confirmed “is a free-range facility situated near a wetlands that is a refuge for geese, ducks and other wild birds.” According to Fred Landeg, Britain’s acting chief veterinary official, “This is a particularly challenging site and our priority is to adhere to strict bio-security, and the health and safety of staff on site is paramount.”2 On November 16, The Times reported that turkeys on a second farm were being culled due to suspected H5N1 infection. Thirty turkeys were found dead on a farm within the protection zone, which was established after the outbreak was confirmed on Monday. More than 5,000 birds have been culled on that farm as a precaution.3 This is not the UK’s first H5N1 outbreak; approximately 160,000 farm-raised turkeys were culled following confirmation of H5N1 infection last February.2 That strain, according to AP, “matched a strain that had earlier infected geese in southern Hungary.”1 But TIME reported that the strain associated with the current outbreak “shows a close relationship to a strain that caused an outbreak in Bavaria, Germany, in August.”2 The timing of this latest outbreak could have serious economic implications for UK poultry farmers. The holiday season is a typically lucrative time during which poultry farmers “would expect to sell more than 20 million birds.”2 TIME reported that “the downturn following the last bird flu outbreak cost the British poultry industry an estimated $19 million in 12 weeks.” The current outbreak among turkeys heralds yet another blow to Britain’s farming industry, which is still attempting to recover from outbreaks of foot-and-mouth and bluetongue earlier this year.2 References
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