Outbreak of Newcastle’s disease on farm; poultry exports banned |
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Published
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Sun, 17 Jul 2005 22:35
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LONDON: Potentially difficult times for poultry farms and farmers in the UK are on the cards as the Government confirmed that the deadly Newcastle’s disease had been detected in bird flock in Surrey yesterday.
This new scare has prompted the government to ban all exports of live birds, hatching eggs, meat and eggs to all countries outside the European Union. The exports that have been banned are worth almost £114 million and were mainly exported to countries in the Far East. As of now, there is no danger of exports to the EU countries being suspended, but officials are keeping a close watch on the situation.
Newcastle's disease was first reported in Britain in the 1930s. The last known outbreak in Britain was in 1997. The disease is usually fatal to birds and is associated with episodes of conjunctivitis in both adults as well as children. Confirming the Surrey cases, a spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said, "The disease has been confirmed in around 9,000 pheasants in Surrey, but since they are all bred in the same place, the disease has been easily contained."
The department had decided to cull all the infected birds as a precautionary measure against the spread of the disease. The DEFRA spokeswoman dismissed suggestions that this disease was a forbearer to the dreaded 'avian flu' which has caused millions of birds to be killed in Asia.
These 9,000 pheasant are located on a farm near West Horsley and Reigate. This farm apparently rears these game birds for shooting. Government officials have marked the area around this farm as an exclusion zone. The birds were imported from France last fortnight and are only two weeks old. In response to the detection of the disease all French pheasant exports have been halted.
Veterinary officials are scrambling to check whether any other consignment has been imported by Britain. "We suspect the threat is confined to southern England and farmers will already be getting their birds vaccinated," said Peter Bradnock, the chief executive of the British Poultry Council.
The DEFRA also issued a statement saying, "Although Newcastle disease is infectious to other birds, the potential threat to a major part of the UK egg and poultry industry is minimal as large-scale producers routinely vaccinate their birds against the disease and any vulnerable birds could be vaccinated within a week."
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