The whole of Britain has been declared a bird flu ‘resistance zone’

The whole of Great Britain has been declared a ‘prevention zone’ to prevent the spread of deadly flu among wild and domestic birds.

From today all bird keepers in Britain must follow strict measures by law to protect their flocks Bird fluKeeping free-range birds in fenced areas and with strict biosecurity for workers on farms.

The UK has faced its biggest outbreak of the disease in the past year, with more than 200 cases confirmed across the country since the end of October 2021 – including 30 confirmed since the start of this month.

About 3.5 million domestic birds have been killed during the outbreak to prevent an ‘unprecedented and devastating’ outbreak, according to officials.

More than 47 million birds have been killed across Europe to stop the outbreak.

For the first time, the H5N1 bird flu virus did not die out in wild bird populations over the summer, but continued to be infectious, causing mass deaths of birds from red kites to puffins and skuas, government officials said.

Scientists think the virus has changed in a way that makes it tougher – and survives longer in surface or water environments – although more research is needed.

But officials say the public health risk from the virus is low and properly cooked chicken and eggs are safe to eat.

Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss, told reporters the Northern Hemisphere was in the grip of an ‘unprecedented highly pathogenic avian flu outbreak’.

He said: ‘Whether you’re a backyard flock owner or a commercial farmer, you’re a bird conservationist like the Wildlife and Wetland Trust or whoever you are, it’s devastating for birders.

‘And devastating for themselves who work as vets and technical people in government.’

He said the virus – known as A(H5N1) – had infected wild birds returning to the UK, but for the first time the virus had arrived in our local wild bird population ‘over the summer’.

And as we move into cooler weather, new infections are spreading as wild birds come into contact with poultry, he said.

Previously there were only two resistance zones – in South West and East Anglia – but the rapid spread of the disease in wild and domestic poultry has led to the zones being expanded to take in England, Scotland and Wales.

Under containment zone rules, producers of more than 500 birds must restrict access to their sites to non-essential people, workers must change clothing and footwear before entering enclosures, and vehicles must be regularly cleaned and disinfected.

Backyard owners of small numbers of chickens, ducks and geese also need to take steps to limit the risk of disease spreading among their flocks, they are being warned.

If birds show signs of leaving their food or water, or show ‘respiratory or neurological’ signs of infection, owners should contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency or their own private vet, who will then alert the authorities.

Farmers expressed fears last month that many Christmas dinners were ‘already gone’ — as hundreds of thousands of turkeys were killed by September.

But Dr Middlemiss said he did not expect Christmas turkey supplies or domestic chicken supplies to be affected by the outbreak.

Dr Andy Patterson, head of the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Emergency Epidemiological Group, said extreme weather, particularly winter storms, caused damage to chicken coops and other poultry buildings last year.

This allows wild birds to enter buildings which can infect domestic birds.

Also, faecal matter can be washed away during heavy rains – and just one drop can ‘stop the infection in a whole shed’.

Small flocks of backyard chickens acted as an early warning, or ‘sentinel’, because they were more likely to contract the disease than wild birds, alerting authorities before the disease reached large flocks on commercial premises, Dr Patterson said.