British authorities have begun slaughtering turkeys, geese and ducks at a farm in Suffolk after identifying the HN51 strain of bird flu in the flocks. Although officials are keeping all avenues of investigation open, migratory wild waterfowl appear to be the prime suspects in the outbreak.
The disease was discovered when 60 birds died in one of the farm's five turkey sheds overnight on Sunday. The incubation period for the disease is three to five days. The bird sheds are less than 200 yards from a large ornamental lake which is home to scores of wild swans and Canadian geese.
Protection and surveillance zones were set at 3km and 10km around the farm, restricting the movement of birds and requiring them to be housed and isolated from wild birds.
About 90 poultry keepers with three million birds are inside the surveillance zone. A further restriction zone was imposed on the whole of Suffolk and most of Norfolk with no movement of birds outside that area permitted…….
……After the outbreak a dozen black-feathered turkeys were spotted dead in a field beside their sheds. A witness said: "They were dropping like flies. Several were lying around with their legs in the air."
The H5N1 strain was found in domestic hens in the Czech Republic in July. It was found in domestic poultry and wild birds in Germany between July and September.
Foot and mouth disease, an outbreak of bluetongue disease and now bird flu has made 2007 a less than banner year for British agriculture.
And according to people like David Thorpe Britain should move to exclusively “locally sourced food”. I think that would take a far lower population, but given the state of British National Deathcare that might be achievable.