Birds to be kept indoors across England as avian flu risk rises to ‘very high’

New rules requiring all poultry and captive birds in England to be kept indoors to combat avian flu will be introduced next week.

Officials say the disease has been located at more than 70 premises since the start of October alone, plus many more cases among wild birds.

Bird keepers are being urged to prepare now before the new restrictions come into force on Monday 7 November.

The decision has been taken after the assessed risk of bird flu in wild birds was raised to very high.

Largest outbreak

UK CVO Christine Middlemiss said: “We are now facing, this year, the largest ever outbreak of bird flu and are seeing rapid escalation in the number of cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across England.

“The risk of kept birds being exposed to disease has reached a point where it is now necessary for all birds to be housed until further notice.

“Scrupulous biosecurity and separating flocks, in all ways, from wild birds remain the best form of defence. Whether you keep just a few birds or thousands, from Monday 7 November onwards you must keep them indoors.

“This decision has not been taken lightly, but is the best way to protect your birds from this highly infectious disease.”

Strict biosecurity

The new rules extend the housing requirement already in place for several weeks across Norfolk, Suffolk and large parts of Essex.

Earlier this month, an avian influenza prevention zone, requiring keepers to observe strict biosecurity measures, was introduced across the whole of Great Britain.

At the time, officials said the option of a nationwide housing requirement was being kept under “constant review”.

More than 200 cases of the disease have been recorded across the UK since the outbreak began in October 2021.

The latest reported cases have affected premises in Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.