Mass cull as bird flu hits Britain
EDDIE BARNES POLITICAL EDITOR
THE first case of the deadly flu virus H5N1 in a flock of British birds was
confirmed yesterday, prompting renewed fears that it is only a matter of time
before the strain mutates to pass from human to human.
The task of culling more than 150,000 turkeys at the affected farm in Suffolk
was already under way last night in a desperate bid to stamp out the outbreak
of the highly contagious virus.
But there is growing concern that the emergence of the virus - at a time when
few birds are migrating to the UK - could indicate that it has already spread
into the native population. Such a scenario would leave poultry across Britain
more vulnerable than ever to infection.
Last night, officials confirmed the virus was the deadly Asian strain which has
so far killed 161 people across the world.
The news of the fresh case prompted government scientists to throw an emergency
cordon around the Bernard Matthews factory in Holton.
In a precautionary measure, workers at the factory where the outbreak was
discovered were offered the anti-flu medicine Tamiflu.
But health officials quickly attempted to stem rising panic over the outbreak,
insisting the potential health effects on humans was "negligible". They
reassured consumers that there had been no cases of bird flu being transmitted
by eating infected poultry, and said humans could only be in danger by coming
into close contact with affected birds.
The case in Suffolk comes 10 months after the first case of H5N1 was discovered
in Britain, in a dead swan found in Cellardyke, Fife.
However, this is the first time that H5N1 has spread to a flock of domestic
birds being reared in enclosed conditions.
The outbreak was discovered on Thursday in one of the large turkey houses at
the farm, and officials from the Department for Food, Environment and Rural
Affairs (Defra) were notified immediately.
Yesterday morning, Defra announced that the virus had indeed been the H5N1
strain.
Fred Landeg, the deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, said: "I urge keepers of
birds to be vigilant, to take care if handling birds which appear to be unwell
and to observe high levels of bio-security. Owners that suspect disease should
act quickly to consult their vet."
He added: "There is no reason for public health concern. Avian influenza is a
disease of birds and, whilst it can pass very rarely and with difficulty to
humans, this requires extremely close contact with infected birds."
Landeg said that the birds had come from an undisclosed hatchery in the UK, and
that none had been moved off the farm. Early indications were that this was a
"recent introduction of disease".
However, experts said the timing of the outbreak was cause for concern.
Avian flu expert Dr Colin Butter, at the Institute of Animal Health, said that
as the infection had occurred at a nonmigratory time of year, it could indicate
a "significant" level of the disease in wild birds indigenous to the UK.
Andre Farrar, from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, agreed the
timing of the outbreak raised questions.
He said: "We are not in the middle of what is considered to be a major
migrating period now. The autumn migration has been over for weeks. The only
way to find out what happened is to wait and see."
Microbiologists said that while H5N1 remained an animal virus, there was an
outside chance that it could mutate into a human-borne virus.
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