Bird Flu :: UK investigates bird flu outbreak

Although more than 160,000 turkeys have been slaughtered at a farm in Suffolk in England in order to curb the spread of the deadly bird flu virus, officials remain baffled as to the source of the outbreak.

Officials were investigating the cause of a deadly bird flu outbreak on a farm in Suffolk on Monday as workers culled thousands of turkeys to prevent the virus from spreading.

Plans are in place to deal with any outbreak of bird flu in Wales, says Assembly Environment Minister Carwyn Jones. The government’s emergency planning committee, Cobra, was due to meet on Monday to co-ordinate the response.

Nearly 160,000 birds were being gassed and incinerated after the discovery of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian flu on a farm at Holton run by Europe’s largest turkey producer, Bernard Matthews. The Government has moved to shore up consumer confidence as the UK poultry industry faced the prospect of multi-million pound losses following an outbreak of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Norfolk’s ?1 billion farming industry is bracing itself for the devastating cost of the bird flu outbreak – which could have grave repercussions for 40,000 jobs in the county dependent on poultry. Producers fear a consumer backlash will dent sales, while they struggle with restrictions put in place by the government, which include a restriction zone stretching to the outskirts of Norwich.

2007 Timeline: Bird flu in the UK

1 February 2007 Vets are called to the Bernard Matthews farm, in Holton, Suffolk. Early tests suggests the H5 strain of avian flu is responsible for the deaths of 2,600 turkeys.

3 February 2007 The European Commission says tests confirm that the avian flu is the H5N1 virus.

4 February 2007 Government vets start gassing infected birds at the Holton farm.


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