Bird flu pushing firms to brink
AVIAN influenza is threatening to destroy poultry businesses – because insurers are reluctant to offer cover for the notifiable disease.
Turkey farmers appear to be acutely vulnerable, with many small and medium rearers unable to get insurance, leaving them open to an entire year with no income if the virus was to show up within their flock.
NFU Scotland poultry chair Robert Thompson said: “The threat of the disease is immense. From our understanding, very few insurers are offering cover for bird flu and those who do, are very expensive with rigorous caveats on biosecurity protocols.”
Summer typically sees fewer outbreaks of the disease, but so far in September alone there have been nine cases in the UK.
Mr Thompson said: “If someone goes down with bird flu you have the obvious massive loss as they cull the flock, but there is also huge cleaning and disinfection costs afterwards.
“The union is working to understand how businesses can get insurance for these losses but we are finding underwriters are loath to support policies for avian influenza.
The threat of an avian flu outbreak is all the more acute for turkey units who typically only have one crop of animals per year. If they suffer an outbreak and have to cull all their birds, they are looking at a year of expenses with no income which could push many out of business.
Mr Thompson said: “We all want to help those who have been stricken down with the disease but the best thing is to avoid it in the first place. The answer is improved biosecurity to keep the disease out of flocks.”