Avian flu in the UK has been the worst on record in the UK this winter and 'lockdown' restrictions remain in place. Our poultry continue to be confined with other biosecurity arrangements that are required in place. The expectation was that by this time, with the migratory season coming to an end, cases would diminish. This does not seem to be the case so far.
Because of the length of time birds have had to be confined, eggs and poultry for sale can no longer be marketed as 'free range'. They are being re-labelled 'barn produced'.
One of the worst affected areas recently has in fact been Suffolk. In the last four weeks alone there have been six separate outbreaks in the county, mainly in East Suffolk and Mid-Suffolk. The latest report was yesterday near Stowmarket. In one of these incidents a commercial duck producer had 85,000 birds culled and a further 25,000 culled in an outbreak in a different location.
As with covid, avian flu presents difficult policy decisions as to how best to manage the virus for the foreseeable future. It is probably wise for poultry keepers, large and small to prepare in advance for next winter with the expectation that confinement of birds will be required again and perhaps routinely in the future.
0 Yorumlar