Industry Calm In Face Of UK's First Case Of Deadly H5N1 Bird Flu
UK - Confirmation that the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza killed a swan at Cellardyke in Fife has put the UK poultry industry on high alert.A 3km exclusion zone surrounded by a 10km surveillance zone was immediately thrown up around the case, affecting nine registered poultry producers.
A spokesman for the NFU Scotland said it would make it hard for those nine producers to operate commercially, though not impossible.
But he said they had closed down movements until more was known about the outbreak. No birds will be culled unless the virus is found in commercial poultry.
"The majority of farmers are calm, they just want to know what the next steps are."
"Fife as a region has significant egg production and, with 1.25m egg-layers, it accounts for a quarter of the Scottish egg industry."
Source: FWi
7 April 2006
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