UK-wide alert as bird f lu returns
20 swans die in Stratford in just one week
A BIRD flu prevention zone has been announced across the whole of the UK to stop the deadly disease spreading from wild birds to poultry.
Bird keepers in Britain are now legally required to follow strict biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks.
Anyone with more than 500 birds must restrict access for non-essential visitors and ensure workers change clothing and footwear before entering enclosures. Vehicles must also be disinfected regularly.
Owners with smaller numbers of poultry, including chickens, ducks and geese, are also expected to tighten controls.
The measures come just seven weeks before Christmas amid fears of turkey shortages due to supply problems.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) at 5pm yesterday after detecting the disease in both wild and captive birds.
Cases were recorded in Angus, Scotland, and in Wrexham, north Wales, where Defra con-Stratford-upon-Avon
‘They’re dying before our eyes’
firmed cases of the highly infectious H5N1 strain of avian flu in both chickens and wild birds.
Defra last week confirmed an outbreak of avian flu in wild birds at the Wychbold Swan Rescue centre in Worcestershire.
In a joint statement, the Chief Veterinary Officers for England, Scotland and Wales, said: ‘Whether you keep just a few birds or thousands, you are now legally required to introduce higher biosecurity standards on your farm or small holding.
‘It is in your interests to do so to protect your birds from this highly infectious disease.’
Although the NHS website warns that bird flu can affect humans, the statement added that the risk to public health is ‘very low’. It also poses ‘a very low food safety risk’ to UK consumers.
It came amid warnings that swans in Shakespeare’s birthplace could be ‘wiped out’ by a suspected outbreak of bird flu. Around 20 swans – as well as ducks and geese – have died in in just over a week, according to the town’s former mayor Cyril Bennis.
The 72-year-old, who runs Stratford Swan Rescue, said the situation was the worst he has seen in four decades.
He added: ‘It is massively important to contain this disease. The swans’ whole nervous system breaks down and they spin around in circles, they go blind, bumping into everything.
‘Visitors look and ask, “what’s happening?” They are dying before our very eyes. ‘It’s devastating.’ A spokesman for the RSPCA said the charity had already euthanised 16 ‘extremely sick’ swans and removed the bodies of two which were found by the river.
They added that these will be tested by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), which is part of Defra, ‘if required’.
Defra has said it is investigating but has not yet confirmed the presence of bird flu in the Warwickshire town.
Stratford’s swans are a hit with locals and tourists – thousands of whom visit Shakespeare’s birthplace each week.
The world-famous playwright was affectionately called ‘the sweet Swan of Avon’ in the 1623 poem by Ben Jonson.
Mr Bennis told The Daily Mail: ‘The swans are synonymous with Stratford. Shakespeare and swans, it’s like salt and pepper.
‘If there’s anything that comes to mind when you think of Stratford it’s the swans going by gracefully.’
He added: ‘If no further action is taken then we risk losing all of them. That’s the wipe-out situation. I feel helpless. You can’t help but cry.’
A spokesman for APHA said: ‘We are aware of a number of swan deaths near Stratfordupon-Avon. These deaths are currently under investigation.’