Articles | Bird flu on Oxfordshire farm

Bird flu on Oxfordshire farm

Published: Tuesday, 3 June 2008, 9:23PM

Chickens on a farm in Oxfordshire have tested positive for the H7 strain of bird flu.

All birds on the infected farm near Banbury are to be slaughtered as a precautionary measure after the case of avian flu was confirmed by new Chief Veterinary Officer Nigel Gibbens.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said testing is continuing to see whether the identified strain of bird flu is highly pathogenic.

Shadow environment secretary Peter Ainsworth said: "This is worrying news for the farming community. It is vital that Defra acts to contain the outbreak and to identify its source."

Defra said a temporary control zone with an 3km (1.8 miles) inner zone and a 10km (6.2 miles) outer zone has been established around the infected premises.

In the inner zone, poultry must be housed and kept isolated from wild birds, and across the whole zone, movement of birds and bird gatherings are banned.

Mr Gibbens said: "I would stress the need for poultry keepers to be extremely vigilant, practise the highest levels of biosecurity and report any suspicions of disease to their local Animal Health Office immediately."

Defra is also considering whether any wider measures might be needed.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the H7 strain of avian flu was largely a disease of birds and did not transmit easily to humans.

The risk to human health posed from the strain is low, the HPA said.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the case of bird flu "poses no safety implications for the human food chain".

Dr Judith Hilton, the FSA's head of microbiological safety, said: "Properly cooked poultry and poultry products are safe to eat. The science shows that the virus isn't contracted by eating food, but usually by close contact with infected birds."