Animal Plant Health Agency
Contents:
- Latest situation
- Bird flu guidance
- Risk levels
- Bird flu webinars
- Free-range and organic status
- Defra policies and contingency plans
- Bird flu legislation
Latest situation
There have been 91 confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in England since 1 October 2022.
There have been 225 cases of(HPAI)H5N1 in England since the H5N1 outbreak started in October 2021.
Check if you are in a bird flu disease zone on the map.
If youre in a bird flu disease zone you must follow the rules for that zone.
Update 3 November
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in commercial poultry on 3 November 2022 at a:
- fifteenth premises near Attleborough, Breckland, Norfolk
- second premises near Halesworth, East Suffolk, Suffolk
A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone are in place around each of the premises. All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was also confirmed in non-commercial other captive birds at a premises near Lancaster, Lancashire. A 3km Captive Bird (Monitoring) Controlled Zone is in place around the premises. All birds on the premises will be humanely culled.
Update 2 November
Mandatory housing measures for all poultry and captive birds are to be introduced to all areas of England from 00:01 on Monday 7 November.
The housing measures legally require all bird keepers to keep their birds indoors and to follow stringent biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks from the disease, regardless of type or size.
This will extend the mandatory housing measures already in force in the hot spot area of Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Essex to the whole of England, following an increase in the national risk of bird flu in wild birds to very high.
Find details of the measures that will apply in the new England wide zone from 00.01 on Monday 7 November:Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) declaration including housing measures (England).
All bird flu cases and disease zones
Find details of all bird flu cases and disease zones in England.
Find details of bird flu cases in Scotland, cases in Wales and cases in Northern Ireland.
Bird flu guidance
Find out how to:
Find guidance about bird flu vaccination.
Risk levels
The risk of of highly pathogenic (HPAI) avian influenza H5 in wild birds in Great Britain is assessed as very high (the event occurs almost certainly).
The risk of poultry exposure to HPAI H5 in Great Britain is assessed as high (event occurs very often) (with low uncertainty) where there are substantial biosecurity breaches and poor biosecurity and medium (that is event occurs regularly) (with high uncertainty) where good biosecurity is applied.
Find details of the evidence that supported these decisions in the risk and outbreak assessments.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advise that bird flu is primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general publics health is very low.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said bird flu poses a very low food safety risk for UK consumers. Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.
Bird flu webinars
Whether you have pet birds, commercial flocks or just a few birds in a backyard flock, the avian influenza stop the spread webinars explain what you can do to protect your birds.
Free-range and organic status
Eggs
If youre in a bird flu disease zone with housing measures, you can keep your free-range status if housing measures do not last for more than 16 weeks.
Birds will regain their free-range status when they:
- can go back outside again
- meet the standards in paragraph 1 for the protection of laying hens
If housing measures last for more than 16 weeks, contact your responsible sector body or organic certification body if you have concerns about losing your organic or free-range status.
Meat
Under EU poultry meat marketing regulations, keepers who are required by government to house their birds can retain their free-range status provided birds have spent a minimum of half their lifetime with either access to outside areas or housed during the fixed 12-week grace period.
If birds are housed for longer than half their lifetimes outside of the 12-week grace period, they can no longer be marketed as free-range.
Traditional free-range and free-range total freedom birds ordinarily must have continuous daytime access to open-air runs from a certain age depending on the species. In the case of chickens for Traditional free range, it is 6 weeks of age with a minimum age at slaughter of 81 days.
A chicken will lose its ability to acquire Traditional free-range status if it is kept housed beyond the 12-week grace period and after the first 6 weeks of its life and will never be able to attain it. For Free-range total freedom birds they must have continuous access to open air runs. They will lose their free-range status if they continue to be housed after the grace period and will never be able to attain free-range total freedom status.
For longer-term concerns about possible loss of status, for example organic or free-range, you should consult the responsible sector body or organic certification body.
Defra?policies and contingency plans
Defra?controls cases of bird flu by following the:
Defra?has set out practical information to support land managers, the public and ornithological and environmental organisations in their response to the growing threat of bird flu.
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