Half a million poultry birds culled in Norfolk virus outbreak

The county has become the epicentre of the UK bird flu epidemic, with 10 cases in the last week alone.

They sparked mass culls including 90,000 turkeys at a farm near Holt, and an estimated 32,000 ducks at Mundford, near Thetford, a case confirmed on Thursday night.

Other cases included one confirmed on Wednesday night which was the eleventh near Attleborough - a Breckland disease hotspot which hosts a concentration of poultry farms, many supplying major processors.

Free-range poultry in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex have been forced indoors under a mandatory housing order to halt the spread of bird flu (Image: Archant)

It has been devastating to the region's poultry industry, prompting fears over potential shortages of Christmas turkeys and concerns that the rising risk, particularly to free-range birds, could force farmers out of the industry.

Fabian Eagle, a Swaffham poultry auctioneer who is also Norfolk county council's member champion for the rural economy, estimates that at least 500,000 commercial birds have been culled in the county since the outbreak began last October.

"I am spending most of my days at the moment talking to poultry farmers who are pleading for something to be done," he said. "We need to make sure their voices are heard at the highest levels of government."

National Farmers' Union poultry board chairman James Mottershead said the constant threat of avian influenza is causing "huge uncertainty" in the East of England - a region which contains more than a fifth of the country's poultry farms and produces about 41pc of its turkeys.

He added: "Combined with sky-rocketing production costs and ongoing workforce shortages, many in the sector are concerned about the future of their businesses."

The escalating epidemic in East Anglia has prompted a mandatory housing order to be enforced this week, requiring all captive birds across Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex to be kept indoors, including free-range poultry and backyard hobby flocks, to stop the virus spreading.

The UK's chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said the lockdown was no cause for complacency, as biosecurity is estimated to be 20 times more effective than housing at limiting exposure to the disease.

She warned all bird keepers must maintain strict cleanliness and biosecurity procedures, including cleaning boots and clothing, preventing unnecessary visitors, and checking sheds and roofs for holes.

Dr Middlemiss said scientists are still working to understand why this year's outbreak has been so bad - almost 200 cases and counting - and what the best strategy is for future containment.

"The migratory birds last year brought back a very large level of infection, but this strain is also very infectious," she said. "So there was lots of infectious virus, and it meant the level of virus didn't die out over the summer, it kept perpetuating in our native wild birds, which is something we have not seen before.

"The underlying question is why is this strain so infectious, why did the migratory birds have so much virus? We are still working with international colleagues to understand that."

Dr Middlemiss said there is also a lot of international discussion on the potential use of vaccines - although this is not likely to provide an immediate solution.

"There are vaccines available but we don't use them in this country, other than potentially in zoo birds, and that is because they are not hugely effective against lots of the strains, and it is not always possible to identify between birds that have been vaccinated and birds that have been infected," she said.

"So a combination of those two things means overall using vaccines in our kept birds does not stack up very well.

"But there is a lot of discussion across Europe about using vaccines in certain types of management systems and on how we make the vaccine itself more effective.

"It is absolutely not going to be this winter, because we don't have enough understanding of that information, but the whole industry is talking about filling that information gap."

Poultry keepers and members of the public should report dead wild birds to the Defra helpline on 03459 33 55 77 and keepers should report suspicion of disease to APHA on 03000 200 301.

Poultry farmer Rob Morton with his free-range Christmas turkeys at Skeyton - pictured before the mandatory housing order was enforced from October 12 (Image: Archant)

Concerns for free-range flocks

A Norfolk turkey producer fears the mounting virus risk to free-range flocks will force farmers to reconsider their future.

Rob Morton has 1,000 free-range Christmas turkeys at Skeyton, near North Walsham - which are all now being kept indoors to comply with the government's mandatory housing order to prevent the spread of bird flu.

He said the constant virus threat, along with rising feed and energy costs, had ramped up the risks of free-range poultry production.

"It has put the fear of God into all poultry farmers - you could just be wiped out," he said.

"You get the phone pinging with [bird flu] alerts at 10 o'clock at night and you hope its nowhere close to you. I do feel for those other farmers.

"I know farmers who have had their birds culled out and that is their livelihood gone for this year.

"I think the housing order came in too late. It should have been a few weeks ago. I would not be surprised if there are more cases, even though everything is shut up now.

"We have got lots of space so that is no problem, but the turkeys get a bit niggly indoors. They like to be outside pecking away and enjoying themselves.

"We are doing all we can - foot dips, washing down, trying to keep our birds inside and the wild birds out, but it does not stop the fear. You get up each morning to check the birds and you don't know what you are going to find.

"I think people [farmers] will come back next year but they might need a different view on it.

"Maybe they go back to the old way of turkeys reared in big open barns, and you don't let them outside.

"We will look at it again. Hopefully we will get through this year, and then we will look at the risk in January and see what we do going forward. I think we will still do turkeys, but we might take a different stance on it."

Mr Morton said the crisis had not affected his orders - with almost 40pc of his birds already sold online, on a par with the same time last year.

"I think people will still buy turkeys," he said. "Yes, prices have gone up because of feed prices and everything else.

"I have put nearly £10 on a turkey, but spread over 10-12 people, in the grand scheme of things, I still think it is good value."