Fowl flu: Knowledgeable tells farmers to be ready for the worst if the virus spreads

The chicken flu virus infecting farm flocks throughout Britain might be essentially the most contagious but, the Government's former high knowledgeable in avian virology has warned.

Pirbright Institute's Professor Ian Brown, former director of science on the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), mentioned farmers ought to “be prepared for the worst”.

With a nationwide necessary stay-at-home order coming into impact in England on Thursday, a free-range egg producer in Wiltshire advised the BBC he feels “terrible” about bringing his 32,000 hens inside, however mentioned an outbreak can be “devastating”.

The authorities mentioned the necessary keep order would “bring infection rates down from the high levels we are currently experiencing”.

So far this season – which started in October – 26 instances of extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 have been reported on farms throughout the UK, with 22 instances in England alone. When an outbreak happens, your entire herd needs to be killed.

Professor Brown advised the BBC that the present virus is “as highly transmissible as any high pathogenicity avian influenza we have seen”.

He mentioned farmers ought to now “prepare for the worst, I'm afraid”.

He mentioned, “The epidemic has spread more than 350 times in Britain between 2021 and 2023. This is a very serious epidemic.”

“Now, it's really hard to tell what the ultimate shape of this outbreak will be, but the early signs are not good.”

He mentioned the menace degree meant the poultry trade wanted to “review its biosecurity and redouble its efforts”.

Sarah Godwin runs a blended egg, arable and dairy household farm close to North Wraxall in Wiltshire along with her husband and brother-in-law.

His 32,000 egg-laying hens had been normally exterior a lot of the day. Now they must be stored of their barns 24 hours a day.

“It's terrible. We would love to see them out but it's just a necessary evil because the risk of them getting avian influenza is very high and the consequences are very devastating for a grower and also for the chickens,” he defined.

But regardless of bringing the chickens inside and taking strict biosecurity measures, Mrs Godwin stays “very nervous”.

She mentioned: “It only takes a tiny bit of contaminated dirt from a wild bird or something brought into the shed on someone's shoe.

“It's literally Grams that can infect the entire herd. And at that point, the entire herd has to be killed.”

The UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) still says the risk to the health of the general public is “very low”, while the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said the food safety risk from bird flu is very low and properly cooked poultry and eggs are safe to eat.

But Professor Brown warned that the mutation of the virus needs to be constantly monitored.

“The good news is that fundamentally these viruses are still bird viruses. They don't want to live in humans,” he said.

“We have to continue to monitor the virus, because this is an influenza virus and influenza viruses keep changing.

“Even when they are happy in species like birds there are changes in them. They make mistakes and mistakes when they repeat.

“So this could always lead to a variant emerging that may be more infectious to humans.”

The UK's Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss urged all bird keepers to comply with the new housing measures and to “continue to take strong biosecurity measures, remain alert to any signs of disease and immediately report suspected disease to the Animal and Plant Health Agency”.

“I appreciate the impact these measures will have on the industry and am extremely grateful for the continued support of the poultry sector,” she mentioned.

“We know from past years that bird habitat will bring infection rates down from the high rates we are currently experiencing.”

Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, said the housing order was “the precise transfer on the proper time”.