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Birds facing cull as flu detected (BBC News) (1 Viewer)

It is only around 26 miles or so from Mr Matthews farms. Same area - not saying Matthews is responsible for this outbreak, but it is some coincidence being in the same part of the country!!
 
Not really a huge coincidence - its where most UK turkeys are and where most Turkeys are imported into.


....and not a massive surprise that there has been an outbreak where poultry is intensively farmed. Now an outbreak in Free Range Chickens on the Outer Hebrides would be a shock.
 
Jane Turner said:
....and not a massive surprise that there has been an outbreak where poultry is intensively farmed. Now an outbreak in Free Range Chickens on the Outer Hebrides would be a shock.
Click to expand...
I think the turkeys affected were actually free range but I take your point that a lot of the turkeys in the area are intensively reared.

Ron
 
Jane Turner said:
....and not a massive surprise that there has been an outbreak where poultry is intensively farmed. Now an outbreak in Free Range Chickens on the Outer Hebrides would be a shock.
Click to expand...

It would be - to the people in the OH!! But who is to say where and when bird flu is likely to strike, if it is spread by wild birds, there is no reason why the OH would get off scot free. I just felt the outbreak being is ominously close to the last one, so I wouldn't be surprised if at sometime in the near future here wasn't a link to Matthews farms somewhere along the line...
 
I have just been listening to 'Five Live' and there is already speculation that, as the Turkeys are free range and live outside, a possible source of the disease is migrating birds, especially since there is a pond next to the farm. Apparently it is the H5N1 strain, similar to that which has been found in Germany and the Czech Republic. There will be a lot of speculation like this now.

Ron
 
Ever notice how it doesn't seem to worry the wild birds are the agents brigade, the close correlation of outbreaks and repeat outbreaks to areas there is trafficking of captive poultry, whilst there are huge swathes of the globe between these hot spots, where wild birds are capable of infecting anything in their path.

One might suggest that an infected Turkey was added to the turkey flock, be it outdoor or indoor raised.
 
So, it has been confirmed as the highly contagious H5N1 strain. Rather interestingly on UK TV news tonight there were pictures at the infected farm and a JCB with scoop was loading the dead birds into what was described as "sealed containers" prior to transporting them elsewhere to presumable incinerate them. The "sealed containers" were open topped lorries with red tarpaulins rolled back which would be put back in place and then the lorries would be driven who knows where, sometimes reaching their legal top speed of about 58mph with a dirty great airflow passing under this tarpaulin and this highly infectious virus being squirted all over England. They say they are taking the situation seriously. Perhaps I am being over cynical or just have a practical knowledge of slipstreams and aerodynamics. It will probably be possible to follow the trail of feathers to their destination!!!
 
I couldnt agree more Jos. This is a comercial poultry disease and i would wager not wild bird carried.
 
Yet again we just know wild birds migrating will be the "cause."

Seems incredible that when turkeys catch bird flu half of them drop dead overnight. Now, if they were wild and living a healthy lifestyle (free range food, plenty of exercise etc....) they'd be able to shrug off this nasty little virus and fly hundreds or even thousands of miles before arriving at a foreign shore and still show absolutely no sign of infection.

Don't know about everybody else but every time I've had flu getting out of bed has been difficult enough.

A wild bird being the cause is about as likely as a virus ridden sparrow popping down a ventilation shaft in one of Uncle Bernard's chicken sheds.

Given its previous track of spreading TB, salmonella, foot and mouth, mad cow disease and blue tongue (have I missed any) quite frankly it'll be astonishing if the true source of the infection was to be anything other than the meat industry.
 
Not what I wanted to hear.

Grahame Madge from the RSPB has just been on BBC news & stated that the latest outbreak may have been caused by wild birds. Where's the evidence? Why not say it was unlikely that it arrived from the wild & has been exacerbated by poor farming practices.

I predict an outright cull of all wild U.K. birds just like the Badger cull to stop the spread of T.B. in cattle. Well that's what the farmers will be calling for no doubt.
 
Can I ask a question? Sorry in advance if its an obvious question, but I was wondering. Does this variety of bird flu affect just "big" birds such as turkeys, geese, swans and so on, or does it also affect "little" birds such as starlings, swallows, finches, chats and the like?

I'm not an expert but it seems a little odd that suposedly, if the virus has been spread by wild birds coming in to the country so far no dead infected wild birds have been found? So the RSPB web site which I just looked at seems to say so anyway.

John
 
redeyedvideo said:
Grahame Madge from the RSPB has just been on BBC news & stated that the latest outbreak may have been caused by wild birds. Where's the evidence? Why not say it was unlikely that it arrived from the wild & has been exacerbated by poor farming practices.
Click to expand...

Whatever - from what I've read, it'll cost you possibly up to 100 quid for a good organic turkey this Christmas. Bet there are some who would pay.....

I'd just have a veggie Xmas dinner.....;)
 
The A influenza virus is thought to be endemic in wild waterfowl-but usually in the Low Pathogenic form. Birds that tread in their own faeces are particularly vulnerable-so LPAI can easily be passed from wildfowl to domestic poultry where contact is possible.
Mutation to High Pathogenic AI strains such as H5N1 within a large densely populated domestic flock can then be catastrophic.

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/avian_faqs/en/index.html

Colin
 
Colin said:
So, it has been confirmed as the highly contagious H5N1 strain. Rather interestingly on UK TV news tonight there were pictures at the infected farm and a JCB with scoop was loading the dead birds into what was described as "sealed containers" prior to transporting them elsewhere to presumable incinerate them. The "sealed containers" were open topped lorries with red tarpaulins rolled back which would be put back in place and then the lorries would be driven who knows where, sometimes reaching their legal top speed of about 58mph with a dirty great airflow passing under this tarpaulin and this highly infectious virus being squirted all over England. They say they are taking the situation seriously. Perhaps I am being over cynical or just have a practical knowledge of slipstreams and aerodynamics. It will probably be possible to follow the trail of feathers to their destination!!!
Click to expand...

Ooops, of course this virus is not spread by the wind so it really doesn't matter too much about sealed containers. I had my mind on foot and mouth which is a different ball game.
 
I seem to recall last time the outbreak was caused by Bernard Matthews importing produce from Hungary, followed by cleaning it and then repackaging it as being British produce. Given this sort of dodgy but legal practice I wonder if turkeys reared abroad, imported and then given a couple of days to run around in fresh air could be classed not only as British but free-range too?
 
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