Bird flu outbreak at Bernard Matthews

DEFRA has announced that bird flu has been discovered at a Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk. This is the third time that the disease has been found at one of the company’s farms since 2007. The initial tests performed on the poultry have ruled out both the H5 and the H7 strains, which have the potential to spread quickly.

However, DEFRA has said that, as a precaution, the premises will remain under restriction pending further veterinary investigations. DEFRA also said that all poultry keepers should remain vigilant. In China, recent outbreaks have cost the poultry industry more than $1.6billion in two weeks. It is believed that the Chinese strain, which is H7N9, has also killed 17 people out of 82 infected.

The rest of this article appears in the 24th April issue of Shooting Times.

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