Avian flu housing rules extended

Mandatory housing rules to combat the spread of avian flu will be extended to cover the whole of England.

Defra announced that from Thursday (6 November), keepers throughout England with more than 50 birds or those who sell or give away eggs or poultry products must house their birds.

The extension follows the return of mandatory housing measures to England last week, which covered more than 20 local authority areas spanning much of the north, east and centre of the country.

A series of cases have been confirmed around the country since those measures were brought in from Devon to North Yorkshire, with avian influenza also detected in Lincolnshire, East Sussex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Hampshire.

‘Difficult step’

UK CVO Christine Middlemiss said: “Given the continued increase in the number of avian influenza cases in kept birds and wild birds across England, we are now taking the difficult step to extend the housing measures to the whole of England.

“I appreciate the impact these measures have on industry and am extremely grateful for the continued cooperation of the poultry sector.

“We know from previous years that housing birds will bring the rates of infection down from the high we are currently experiencing.

“I urge bird keepers to comply with the new housing measures, continue to exercise robust biosecurity measures, remain alert for any signs of disease and report suspected disease immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.”