Bird flu ‘won’t mean no turkeys for Christmas’

SCOTLAND’S avian flu outbreak could deteriorate in the coming weeks, an expert has warned.

Sheila Voas, the Scottish Government’s chief veterinary officer, said around 224,000 domestic birds have been culled in Scotland this year.

However the outbreak has so far been significantly smaller than in England, where some 1.67 turkeys and two million chickens have been culled following rising cases of the highly infectious H5N1 strain of the disease.

It is thought to be one of the worst ever outbreaks of bird flu across the world.

Bird flu is an infectious disease of poultry and wild birds which usually flares up in the autumn before fading away – but the virus has been lingering longer than usual in the UK this year.

The H5N1 strain is deadly and can spread through entire flocks of domestic birds within days through droppings, saliva or contaminated feed and water.

Eight farm premises in Scotland have had confirmed outbreaks, with wild birds also found with the disease, Ms Voas told a Holyrood committee on Wednesday.

She said the outbreak overall has been “unprecedented” compared to previous years.

It has led to egg shortages in some shops and fears the Christmas turkey market could be affected.

Speaking to the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, Ms Voas said: “We certainly could be behind the curve, and so we’re continuingly monitoring what’s happening so that if we need to take further measures, we can.

“It is possible that in the next few weeks, the picture here will deteriorate, in which case we will need to take further action.”

The UK Government has recently ordered all poultry and captive birds in England to be kept indoors in an effort to curb the virus.

However, because the figures in Scotland are significantly lower, Ms Voas said that measure is currently not being recommended north of the border as the disease can spread quicker among housed birds.

It comes after an industry chief warned MPs that half of the free range turkeys produced at Christmas in the UK have been culled or died because of bird flu.

Ms Voas said Scotland’s turkey industry is not significant.

She said: “We’ve got a few tens of thousands, they tend to be seasonal producers, people who keep a few 100 turkeys for the local market within Scotland, unlike the commercial turkey production in England.

“England have slaughtered 1.67 million turkeys but in context… that 1.68 million is about disease control. The normal Christmas market is about 10 million, a proportion of which are slaughtered earlier in the year and frozen.

“Turkey may be scarcer but I’m not concerned that there isn’t going to be any turkey around this Christmas.”