BPC urges consumers to continue to support British poultry meat, after bird flu outbreak

Approximately 6,000 ducks will be culled on a farm in Nafferton, East Yorkshire after Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) confirmed it had found strains of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

No risk to the food chain

Defra said immediate action has been taken to control the outbreak on Sunday including a 10km restriction zone.

It has ruled out the H5N1 strain that is infectious for humans adding there is a very low risk to human health and no risk to the food chain.

“Aquatic birds such as ducks can harbour over 100 (in fact 144) different types of influenza​,” said Prof Andrew Easton, professor of Virology, University of Warwick.

“In these birds the viruses do not usually cause disease but when certain types spread to domestic poultry such as chickens serious disease can be seen​.”

Investigations are ongoing to discover whether the outbreak is linked to cases found in The Netherlands and Germany with further test results expected over the coming days.

A spokesman for the European Commission said it is informing other EU member states and non-EU countries, as well as international organisations, about the disease situation and on the measures taken.

"The measures include the culling of the poultry on the affected holding, the establishment of protection and surveillance zones, the introduction of sanitary measures (cleaning and disinfection), the prohibition of movements to sell live poultry, eggs, poultry meat and other poultry products to other EU countries and non-EU countries and the culling of affected flocks only in the restricted zones​,” he said.

Andrew Large, CEO, BPC, added poultry farmers are being urged to maintain high vigilance and bio-security.

“Epidemiological investigations into the source of the outbreak are continuing and the British Poultry Council is liaising closely with Defra​,” he said.

Food Standards Agency

“Consumers should continue to support British poultry meat, assured there is no risk in eating cooked poultry, and that is a message echoed by the Food Standards Agency and the World Health Organisation​.”

Speaking to FoodProductionDaily.com, William Pegg, director, Synthesis Group, a procurement and consulting firm which works with FMCG on disaster management, supply chain management, mitigating costs and developing growth, said it doesn’t matter if a company supplies goods or services, has local or global operations and irrespective of industry, a contingency or disaster recovery plan is essential for business continuity and survival.

“I regularly see businesses swamped by addressing urgent and important tasks. In the heat of an event it is definitely not the time to develop an even-handed response,” ​he said.

“While we can’t ignore the day-to-day, we must find the time to consider the non-urgent and strategic activities in business. Not only does this allow us to tackle tasks like contingency planning, it will allow greater thought and preparation for future growth, development, markets and innovation.​

“Let’s assume a worst case scenario - what are you going to do? Are you in a position to immediately change facilities? Are you able to have your product or services back on line within a week so that customers don’t recognise there’s been an event? This is possible. It can be achieved with a well-structured contingency plan.”​

Pegg added the purpose of contingency planning is to; identify the full spectrum of significant events that may impact a business; develop a comprehensive risk mediation strategy, including a measured response to each and every threat; identify and pre-validate alternative supply and service options and develop strategic partnerships with industry that otherwise might not have been sought.​

Migratory birds heading south

Jamie Weall, senior food law advisor, Exova, said according to EU officials the UK case of bird flu is most probably linked to recent outbreaks in the Netherlands and Germany, but it could also have been affected by migratory birds heading south for the winter.

“Obviously, it is easier to try to control the first of these by ensuring any potential contamination with links to the Netherlands and Germany outbreak is investigated and removed, but it is much harder to control the migratory birds scenario​,” he added.

Speculation about the N number arose after the outbreaks of the H5N8 strain in Germany and the Netherlands, and which was until recently confined to South East Asia.

Dr Colin Butter, head of Avian Viral Immunology, The Pirbright Institute, said it is of note that an outbreak of highly pathogenic (to birds) H5N8 was confirmed in the Netherlands at the weekend, having first been identified in Germany at the beginning of the month. 

The Dutch government has imposed a three-day nationwide ban on the transportation of poultry and eggs and some 150,000 hens were culled at the infected farm in the Netherlands.

The case is the first in the UK since 2008, when chickens on a farm in Banbury, Oxfordshire tested positive for the virus.

Two strains of bird flu, H5N1 and H7N9, have caused serious concern in recent years.

H5N1 has a mortality rate of about 60% within infected humans, according to the World Health Organisation. The UN's public health arm recorded 377 deaths from H5N1 in 15 countries by July last year.

H7N9 was first detected in China in 2013 and has led to dozens of deaths.