Cull at four farms linked to bird flu outbreak

Published on Thursday 15 November 2007 00:35

THOUSANDS of turkeys on four farms that had "dangerous contact" with the case of deadly bird flu found in Suffolk are being culled.

The birds are being slaughtered as a precautionary measure on the four sites, which are all inside the restricted zone around the infected Redgrave Park farm in Suffolk, and are owned by the same company.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said the birds had been assessed as at risk of exposure to the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus because of the movement of people from the initial case, but no disease had been detected at the other farms.

Fred Landeg, the acting chief veterinary officer, said: "At this stage, we have not confirmed disease on any of these four premises. This is a precautionary measure taken to prevent any potential spread of the disease."

Work is also continuing to trace the source of the virus, DEFRA said.

Government officials on Tuesday confirmed that the virus found in birds on the farm in Redgrave was H5N1.

Dr Landeg has said the disease in the latest outbreak is closely related to one found in birds in the Czech Republic and Germany in the summer.

The discovery suggested the virus could have been spread to the UK by wild birds, but animal health experts were keeping an open mind and investigating all the possibilities, he said.

One of the four farms on which the culls are taking place is inside the two-mile protection zone set up around the free-range rearing unit at the centre of the outbreak. The other three are outside the six-mile surveillance zone but within the restricted zone which covers Suffolk and most of Norfolk. All 22,000 free-range turkeys on the "dangerous contacts" premises are being culled.

The four sites are operated by Gressingham Foods, whose subsidiary, Redgrave Poultry, runs Redgrave Park, where the outbreak was first identified.

A cull of 5,000 turkeys, more than 1,000 ducks and 500 geese at Redgrave Park farm was continuing yesterday. It began on Tuesday after the alarm was raised on Sunday by Gressingham Foods after turkey deaths at the farm.

Geoffrey Buchanan, the operations director of Redgrave Poultry, confirmed that all four new cull sites - Stone House Farm in West Harling, Norfolk; Bridge Farm in Pulham, Norfolk; Grove Farm in Botesdale, Suffolk; and Hill Meadow in Knetishall, Suffolk - were run by the company.

He said: "Each farm is too small for a dedicated staff, so a small team of people runs this cluster of farms."

DEFRA has confirmed there are more than four million turkeys, chickens, ducks and geese on the GB Poultry Register within the six-mile surveillance zone around the farm in Redgrave.

There are a further 25 million birds registered in the wider restricted area.

But Charles Bourns, the National Farmers' Union's poultry board chairman, said he did not think there was a danger of turkey shortages heading into the busy Christmas period.

"I think this is a disease on the one farm, and I don't think it is going to get out and kill five million birds, most of which are indoors and should have no contact with wild birds," he said.

He admitted the situation was "very serious", but added it was too early to tell if the disease was going to spread.

CHRISTMAS TURKEY SALES 'NOT AFFECTED'

RETAILERS yesterday shrugged off concerns that Christmas turkey supplies would be hit by the bird flu outbreak.

All the major supermarket chains insisted stock was so far unaffected. They reported virtually no change in sales of poultry or turkey products.

A Tesco spokesman said: "We haven't seen any change in buying patterns which shows customers are taking a sensible view of the situation. There is no shortage of supply."

Morrisons and M&S also said they were not supplied by the affected farms.

A Waitrose spokesman said the chain was not concerned about Christmas turkey supplies in the wake of the extended culling.

"This area accounts for a small proportion of the turkey supplies we were due to receive and we are confident we can meet customer demand," he said.

A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said: "The culling of turkeys on the additional four farms recently announced will not affect our supply of turkeys in the near future or in the run-up to Christmas." She said figures showed no change to turkey sales and a slight uplift in chicken sales. Asda also insisted its supplies were unaffected.