Bird flu farm disinfected

The Suffolk turkey farm at the centre of an outbreak of bird flu is being disinfected following the cull of almost 160,000 birds.

All the birds at the Bernard Matthews farm in Holton, near Lowestoft, following the discovery of the deadly H5N1 virus, were transported in sealed lorries to Cheddleton in Staffordshire, where they are to be incinerated.

The cause of the outbreak is still unknown. A three-kilometre protection zone is in place around the farm and all poultry in the area have to remain indoors and be tested for the virus. A ten-kilometre surveillance zone is also in place, with no movement of poultry allowed unless they are being moved for slaughter.

Employees at the farm have been given the Tamiflu anti-viral drug as a precaution.

Bernard Matthews said that none of the infected birds had entered the food chain and stressed that there was no risk to the public, because the virus cannot be transmitted through food.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Environment Minister David Miliband also said that the threat to the public from the outbreak was "negligible" and said that the Food Standards Agency had confirmed that there was no risk to the public from eating poultry or eggs.

However, Japan, South Africa, South Korea and Hong Kong have now blocked all poultry imports from the UK. Russia is allowing only cooked meats to be imported.

Since January 2003, 164 people have died from H5N1, mainly in Southeast Asia. All those who became infected had come into close contact with infected birds. However, there have been fears that the virus could mutate into a form which passes easily between humans, creating a pandemic.

(KMcA)