Bird virus detected on pheasant farm
LONDON - Newcastle disease, a deadly virus that affects birds, has been detected in thousands of pheasants bred for shooting on a farm in southern England, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.The disease can cause a minor illness in humans.
"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," a spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) told Reuters.
DEFRA said the birds would now be slaughtered in a bid to contain the outbreak.
"The premises are not close to any significant poultry production units (and) immediate action is being taken to track the movements of other pheasant consignments which may have come from the same original source to eliminate any risk of the disease spreading," DEFRA said.
Source: Reuters
15 July 2005
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