UK Bird flu virus is deadly Asian strain
Pastor Dale Morgan
UK Bird flu virus is deadly Asian strain*
The avian flu which killed 2,600 turkeys at a Bernard Matthews farm in
Suffolk has been confirmed as the deadly Asian strain of the H5N1 virus.
The virus can be fatal if it is passed on to humans but experts said the
outbreak was being contained and posed little danger to people's health.
The Veterinary Laboratories Agency carried out the tests which confirmed
the outbreak in Holton.
The slaughter of nearly 160,000 turkeys has begun at the farm as a
precaution.
A spokeswoman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs said the birds were being gassed in containers and the operation
would continue through the night.
The government department earlier said the flu was the "highly
pathogenic" Asian strain, similar to a virus that was found in Hungary
in January.
In that incident, the first time bird flu had re-occurred in the
European Union since August 2006, a flock of 3,000 geese were killed.
A three-kilometre protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone have now
been set up around Holton, which is approximately 27km south-west of
Lowestoft.
A much wider restricted zone covering 2,090sqkm is bordered by the A140
to the west and the A47 to the north.
It is the first case on a UK commercial farm of an H5N1 infection.
The strain has killed 164 people worldwide - mainly in south-east Asia -
since 2003.
However, the virus is not thought to be able to pass easily from human
to human at present.
A spokesman for Bernard Matthews, which runs the farm in Holton, said
none of the affected birds had entered the food chain and there was no
risk to public health.
So far, all those who have been infected worldwide have come into
intimate contact with infected birds.
Vaccinations
Fred Landeg, Britain's Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, said an
investigation was under way but the most likely source of the outbreak
was wild birds.
He told BBC News that vaccinations for poultry were not currently being
considered.
"There are a number of problems with vaccination in that it takes about
three weeks to get immunity."
Mr Landeg said the turkeys at the farm had been too young to enter the
food chain and no birds or produce had moved off the site.
Dr Maria Zambon, from the Health Protection Agency, said farm workers
who had come into contact with infected birds, and those involved in the
culling process, would be offered the anti-viral drug Tamiflu as a
precaution.
She stressed that nobody had developed symptoms of bird flu following
similar outbreaks among farm birds in continental Europe.
Vets were called to the Bernard Matthews farm on Thursday night.
The company said it was confident the outbreak had been contained and
there was no risk to consumers.
National Farmers Union president Peter Kendall told BBC News 24 the
priority would be eradicating the outbreak.
"[We will be] making sure we get the message across about how well this
will be managed and controlled.
"We're encouraging all farmers to be incredibly vigilant, look at their
flocks carefully and we do need to reassure consumers that this is not
an issue about the safety of poultry - it's completely safe to eat."
Defra has revoked the national general licence on bird gatherings and
bird shows and pigeon racing will not be permitted.
Detergent
Professor John Oxford, a virologist at the London Queen Mary's School of
Medicine and Dentistry, said he was confident the outbreak could be
contained.
He said: "I don't think it has made any difference as a threat to the
human population. The most likely explanation is that a small bird has
come in through a ventilation shaft.
"One good thing about this virus is that it's easily destroyed. You can
kill it with a bit of detergent."
Dr Oxford also said that while four strains of the H5N1 virus have been
identified so far, all are deadly to birds and show potential of being
harmful to humans.
In May last year, more than 50,000 chickens were culled after an
outbreak of the H7 bird flu in farms in the neighbouring county of Norfolk.
One member of staff at the farm contracted the disease and was treated
for an eye infection.
In March 2006, a wild swan found dead in Cellardyke, Fife, was found to
have the H5N1 strain of the virus.