Yesterday, Gareth Davies MP met with the Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Christine Middlemiss, and the Director of Animal and Plant Health and Welfare at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Gareth Baynham-Hughes, to discuss the current trend of avian flu across Great Britain.
Dr Middlemiss explained that there have been 129 recorded cases of avian flu in Great Britain, with East Anglia the worst affected. Currently, Mr Baynham-Hughes shared that Great Britain is recording around 2 cases per day, down from 4 per day over previous weeks.
All cases recorded are of the H5N1 strain, which does not easily infect humans and is not usually spread from human-to-human. The source of this outbreak has been identified as migratory wild birds, with similar outbreaks occurring across Europe and North America.
In order to mitigate the financial impact upon farmers, Defra has taken steps to improve the provision of compensation to those who have recorded cases amongst their livestock, resulting in the need for humane culling. Farmers now have greater certainty earlier on, are paid more quickly, and should receive a greater sum than in previous years.
There is a global effort underway to identify an effective vaccine for this particular outbreak, but our strongest defence currently is to follow the advice from Defra, especially on the movement of birds across the country.
Gareth said:
“While I am glad that we currently have no cases of avian flu recorded in Grantham & Stamford constituency, I know that we do have areas which sit within Defra surveillance zones. I am very much aware of the financial impact this can have on farmers, but also on those further down the supply chain, including on consumers.
I will continue to engage and monitor the situation as we look to improve our protection, reduce the spread, and minimise the impact on birdkeepers over the coming months.”
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