March 2, 2007

UK's Defra lifts requirement to house birds in flu zone

The UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thursday (Mar 1) lift its requirement to house birds in all declared zones set up after the H5N1 bird flu outbreak hit the Bernard Matthews turkey farm in Suffolk.

The measure was put in place on Feb 3 after the H5N1 outbreak was discovered to help control the disease. Certain zones with restrictions were declared around the infected premises.

Defra also said the Protection Zone, an area three kilometres around the infected farm, will be removed and will become part of the wider surveillance zone.

The H5N1 outbreak is believed to be contained after no presence of the disease was discovered outside of the affected farm. This was after Defra carried out enhanced surveillance of 148 premises of live poultry, including testing ducks and geese, and tested approximately 64 dead wild birds within the zones. It also tested fecal samples from the environment around the infected premises.

"This is a positive step that has resulted from our work to stamp out the disease," Defra Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg said.

But Landeg warned against complacency.

"We must remain vigilant and I must stress again how important it is for poultry keepers to practice good bio-security," he said.