Avian influenza has returned again already this winter. There have been three notified outbreaks of the highly pathogenic form H5N1 in the UK to date and as of 5pm yesterday the whole of Great Britain has been declared a Prevention Zone. This means all bird and poultry keepers, whether commercial or 'backyard' keepers have to implement strict biosecurity measures.
The main source of avian flu is from wild birds and now that the migration season is under way the potential for transmitting the virus has increased, including infecting captive birds. The outbreaks so far have been in Worcestershire, Wrexham in Wales and Angus in Scotland. The East of England is a vulnerable area as for many birds the East coast is an important migration route and there are also quite a few wetlands which act as stopping off points or winter quarters for some species.
As far as the biosecurity requirements are concerned we have these more or less in place already. It becomes more problematic if control measures are increased and birds are required to be housed, as was the case last winter. I suspect the control order to house birds will follow in due course.
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| Lavender pekin bantams who are 14 weeks old and seem happy with their housing arrangements. |
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