Turkeys culled as H5N1 bird flu found at British poultry farm
Feb 03 9:51 PM US/Eastern
Nearly 160,000 turkeys were being culled in Britain on Sunday after the country's first confirmed outbreak of the potentially lethal Asian strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry.
But despite stringent security measures now in place to prevent its spread, newspaper reports claimed farm bosses and the environment ministry did not act quickly enough after the first birds died.
The Sunday Telegraph claimed 71 birds at the farm in Holton, eastern England, died in unexplained circumstances last Tuesday but the matter was not reported to vets until Thursday, when more than 1,000 others had perished.
It also alleged that some of the farm's 1,000-strong workforce were allowed to walk around the site and its 22 turkey sheds for two days before their movements were restricted.
There was no immediate response from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) or the farm's operators Bernard Matthews, which is Europe's biggest turkey producer.
A Defra spokeswoman told AFP that a cull of 159,000 turkeys began late Saturday and was expected to take about two days.
Preliminary tests confirmed the presence of the H5 strain of bird flu late Friday. H5N1 was confirmed early Saturday and the virulent Asian strain similar to that found in Hungary last month later in the day.
Scientists fear that H5N1 -- which has killed more than 160 people globally since 2003, mostly in south-east Asia -- could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.
But British government scientists said the outbreak was being contained and posed no immediate danger to human health. Farmers and public health officials said well-cooked meat was still safe to eat.
As a precaution, farm workers and those involved in the cull have been given anti-viral drugs while vehicles using a neighbouring meat factory were disinfected.
A three-kilometre (1.8-mile) protection zone and 10-kilometre surveillance zone was put in place around the site. All poultry was ordered to be isolated from wild birds and any movement had to be licensed.
Defra widened the restriction zone late Saturday to cover an area of 2,090 square kilometres (810 square miles).
"Targeted surveillance" is also in place across large swathes of England, Wales and Scotland for H5N1 and other avian influenza viruses in wild birds.
Other measures introduced include the withdrawal of licences for bird shows or gatherings and a ban on pigeon racing.
Britain's national emergencies committee COBRA met twice Saturday to discuss the official response, a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair's office told AFP.
It is not yet clear how H5N1 infected the animals, although Britain's deputy chief veterinary officer said he believed it had been carried by a wild bird.
The outbreak was found in only one of the turkey houses on the farm, which is in the heart of England's chicken and turkey-rearing region in East Anglia.
Bernard Matthews told customers there were strong biosecurity measures in place and said none of the affected birds had entered the food chain.
Last month's Hungarian outbreak of Asian strain H5N1 was detected among geese and was the first within the European Union since mid-2006.
The discovery led to the slaughter of 9,400 birds and a poultry export embargo from some neighbouring countries.
News of Britain's outbreak prompted the Dutch agriculture ministry to announce extra protective measures, Norway to impose an export ban on British poultry and France to evaluate the risk to its flocks.
In March 2006, a swan found in Cellardyke, on the east Scotland coast, became the first wild bird in Britain to be found to have the H5N1 variant of the virus.
