Bird flu – Latest situation: Chief Vet warns poultry keepers against complacency or risk losing flocks to bird flu

Current situation

The UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss hasis announcedurging thatall mandatorypoultry housingkeepers measuresnot forto poultrybe complacent and captiveto birds,continue whichfollowing werethe introducedurgent acrossbiosecurity themeasures Unitedneeded Kingdom to keep their birds safe and help stop the spread of bird flu, will be lifted from 00:01 on Monday 2 May 2022.flu.

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Public health advice remains that the risk to human health from the virus is very low and food standards bodies advise that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers. Do not touch or pick up any dead or sick birds that you find and instead report them to the relevant helpline below. There is no impact on the consumption of properly cooked poultry products including eggs.

The Chief Veterinary Officer is reminding all poultry keepers that whilst the main source of infection comes from migratory wild birds, those failing to implement these measures risk infecting their own flocks by walking the virus into their holdings. Keepers should therefore continue to follow the strict biosecurity measures in place to limit the spread of and eradicate the disease.

UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said:

WhilstWe have taken swift action to limit the liftingspread of the mandatorydisease including introducing housing measuresmeasures. willHowever bewe welcomeare newsstill toseeing a number of bird keepers,flu scrupulouscases biosecurityboth remainson commercial farms and in backyard birds right across the mostcountry.

Many criticalpoultry formkeepers have excellent biosecurity standards but the number of defencecases we are seeing suggests that not enough is being done to helpkeep bird flu out. Whether you keep just a few birds or thousands you must take action now to protect your birds safe.from this highly infectious disease.

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The oflegal diseaserequirement to house birds and maintainto stringentstep standardsup biosecurity measures will remain in force until further notice but be kept under regular review as part of biosecurity.the government’s work to protect flocks.

Avian influenza is in no way connected to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is not carried in poultry or captive birds.

Advice to poultry keepers

All bird keepers must keep a close watch on them for signs of disease and maintain good biosecurity at all times. If you have any concerns about the health of your birds, seek prompt advice from your vet.

Poultry keepers must:

• house or net all poultry and captive birds to keep them separate from wild birds
• cleanse and disinfect clothing, footwear, equipment and vehicles before and after contact with poultry and captive birds – if practical, use disposable protective clothing
• reduce the movement of people, vehicles or equipment to and from areas where poultry and captive birds are kept, to minimise contamination from manure, slurry and other products, and use effective vermin control
• thoroughly cleanse and disinfect housing on a continuous basis
• keep fresh disinfectant at the right concentration at all farm and poultry housing entry and exit points
• minimise direct and indirect contact between poultry and captive birds and wild birds, including making sure all feed and water is not accessible to wild birds

See our biosecurity advice for more information.

Cases in England

For details of the current avian influenza H5N1 cases in England and the measures that apply in the disease control zones around these cases, see the avian influenza: cases and disease control zones in England guidance.

Check if you are in a zone on our interactive map.

Wild birds

If you find dead wild waterfowl (swans, geese or ducks) or other dead wild birds, such as gulls or birds of prey, you should report them to the Defra helpline (03459 33 55 77). Do not touch or pick up any dead or visibly sick birds that you find. For further information see our advice to the public.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out year-round avian influenza surveillance of dead wild birds submitted via public reports and warden patrols. For further details see the report (updated weekly) of findings of HPAI in wild birds in Great Britain and our outbreak assessments.

Register your birds

You should register your poultry, even if only kept as pets, so we can contact you during an outbreak. This is a legal requirement if you have 50 or more birds. Poultry includes chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, pigeon (bred for meat), partridge, quail, guinea fowl and pheasants.

Further information

• Detailed guidance on avian influenza (bird flu): latest situation; how to spot it and report it
• Guidance on cases and disease control zones in England
• Sign up to our animal disease alerts

For bird flu guidance in:

• Scotland - see the Scottish Government website
• Wales - see the Welsh Government website
• Northern Ireland - see the DAERA-NI website