160,000 birds now culled after H5N1 avian flu outbreak » Environment » 24dash.com

The cull of almost 160,000 birds at the Suffolk farm where an outbreak of bird flu was discovered has now been completed.

Fred Landeg, the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, confirmed the culling operation at the stricken farm in Holton was finished at 8.36pm yesterday.

Mr Landeg thanked everyone involved in the massive cull for their work and the speed with which they managed to complete their task.

He said: "I am thankful for the efforts of all involved in the culling operation and the swiftness with which this large process was carried out."

Vets were called to the Bernard Matthews farm in Holton last Thursday after hundreds of turkeys died. Tests later confirmed the presence of the avian flu virus.

Experts are still working to try to find the source of the outbreak, identified on Saturday as the H5N1 strain which has killed 164 people since January 2003, mainly in Asia and the Middle East.

Environment Secretary David Miliband said yesterday that the outbreak posed only a "negligible" risk to the public.

Mr Miliband told MPs hours after the Cabinet's emergency Cobra committee met to discuss the situation that the response had been "rapid, well co-ordinated and appropriate".

In a statement to the House of Commons, he also reassured consumers that it was safe to continue eating poultry and eggs.

But the UK's largest supermarket, Tesco, had already seen a small dip in its poultry sales, which were down a single digit percentage point. Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's said sales of poultry and eggs remained unchanged.

Tony Blair joined the bid to ease public fears, with his official spokesman telling reporters that the Prime Minister was happy to carry on eating poultry.

Mr Miliband earlier defended the handling of the outbreak, denying there had been a delay in taking action at the farm.

He said: "There were a small number of birds that died on Tuesday and on Wednesday but nothing unusual in a flock of this size. You do get birds dying in those sorts of numbers.

"It wasn't until Thursday, when more than 800 birds died, that the Bernard Matthews vet quite rightly informed the local State Veterinary Service and we immediately put restrictions on that farm. So this idea that there was some delay is simply wrong."

Mr Miliband said the carcasses were being transported "under escort in sealed, leak-proof lorries" to a rendering plant in Staffordshire.

He said "full protection" had been put in place for workers dealing with the dead birds and the public living near the plant.

Workers at the factory farm have been offered the anti-viral Tamiflu and are being monitored and seen by doctors.

Ireland - both Ulster and the Irish Republic - yesterday joined Japan in placing restrictions on imports from the UK in response to the outbreak.

But Mr Miliband was keen to reassure the public that their food posed no risk.

"The Food Standards Agency advise that there is no risk in eating any sort of properly cooked poultry, including turkey, and eggs."

Mr Miliband told the Commons: "Experience from previous outbreaks in Europe and in the past in this country has shown that in all cases where disease was found in domestic poultry the rapid action taken to restrict movements, to house birds and, above all, to cull all the birds on the infected premises, has eradicated the disease without further spread.

"I am satisfied that the response has been rapid, well co-ordinated and appropriate."

In a statement, Bernard Matthews said none of the affected birds had entered the food chain and consumers were not at risk.

"Bernard Matthews continues to work very closely with Defra and other industry bodies," it said.

"All proper procedures were followed and we responded accordingly in good time. The company meets and in many cases far exceeds Defra's biosecurity standards for combating avian flu."

Defra has set up a restricted area of more than 800 square miles surrounding the farm where the outbreak occurred to try to contain the virus.

The restriction zone, in which poultry must be kept isolated from wild birds and movements must be licensed, covers 806 square miles of east Suffolk and south east Norfolk.

The zone, introduced after consultation with ornithologists, is in addition to the 3km (1.86 mile) protection zone and the 10km (6.2 mile) surveillance zones already in place.

They will remain in place until further notice, and for at least 21 days.

Mr Miliband said "rapid and urgent" action to find the cause of the outbreak was continuing - including the monitoring of wild birds found dead, thought to be the likeliest source.

Critics such as Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas accused the Government of ignoring "a massive amount" of evidence that the spread of bird flu was linked instead to modern farming practices.

"Industrial farming practices like keeping tens of thousands of birds in cramped, warm conditions are perfect for encouraging virus mutations and infections," she said.

"These chicken houses are themselves viral factory farms - they are creating the virus there. We need an urgent crash course of research."

Farms Minister Ben Bradshaw said the Government had not ruled out any cause and was "looking very closely at all possible avenues of infection".

But the countries which suffered most tended to be developing nations where poultry was kept in small numbers on open farms, he pointed out.

The Government said it was preparing "very seriously" for the "very remote" possibility that the disease could mutate into a form which spreads between humans causing a flu pandemic.

The Department of Health has stockpiled enough Tamiflu anti-virals to cover a quarter of the population, as advised by scientists, and conducted a massive preparatory exercise last week.

Copyright Press Association 2007