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Bird keepers in England, Scotland, and Wales must implement
stricter biosecurity measures to stop the spread of bird flu, the government
has announced.
The system was introduced by the Department of Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs amid the country's biggest bird flu outbreak.
It follows regional indoor housing measures introduced in
parts of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex last week. The risk to human health from
the virus is very low, the government said.
The chief veterinary officers from England, Scotland, and Wales declared an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) across Great Britain to prevent the disease from spreading amongst poultry and captive birds.
The move followed an increase in the number of detections of avian influenza in wild birds and on commercial premises. Across the United Kingdom, 190 cases have been confirmed since late October 2021, with over 30 of these confirmed since the beginning of this month.
"We've never had to do this before, we've never had
this level of the environmental infection going on before that's posing such a
risk," Prof Christine Middlemiss, the UK's chief veterinary officer, told
the BBC.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advised that the risk
to public health from the virus was very low and the Food Standards Agency
advised that avian influenzas posed a very low food safety risk for consumers.
It said properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe
to eat.
The government stopped short of asking all bird owners to
bring their animals inside, a measure already in place in the east of England.
It said that keepers with more than 500 birds would need to
restrict access for non-essential people on their sites. Workers would need to
change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures and site vehicles
would need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly to limit the risk of the
disease spreading.
Avian influenza spreads naturally in wild birds. These can
spread to poultry and other captive birds when they migrate.
"Bird keepers have faced the largest ever outbreak of
avian flu this year and winter brings an even more increased risk to
flocks as migratory birds return to the United Kingdom," the chief
veterinary officers of England, Scotland, and Wales said in a joint statement.
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