More Than 10,000 Turkeys To Be Culled After Bird Flu Outbreak On Farm

More than 10,000 turkeys are going to be ‘humanely culled’ following an outbreak of bird flu on a UK farm.

Reports of the outbreak were confirmed today, November 29, by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which stated the outbreak was at a North Yorkshire farm.

A temporary control zone has been put around the farm in a bid to stop the disease from spreading any further.

The statement from DEFRA read, ‘Avian influenza of the H5N8 strain was confirmed at a turkey fattening premises near Northallerton on Saturday November 28. All 10,500 birds at the farm will be humanely culled to limit the spread of the disease.’

It continued, ‘A 3km and 10km temporary control zone has been put in place around the infected site to limit the risk of the disease spreading.’

Despite the culling of thousands of turkeys, DEFRA said it doesn’t expect there to be any impact on supplies over the festive season, reported The Sun.

While there have been previous outbreaks of bird flu that have spread to humans, Public Health England (PHE) and the Food Standards Agency are confident this particular outbreak poses a very low risk to humans, and that properly cooked poultry products are still safe to eat.

As per The Sun, UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said:

Bird keepers should remain alert for any signs of disease, report suspected disease immediately and ensure they are maintaining good biosecurity on their premises.

We are urgently looking for any evidence of disease spread associated with this farm to control and eliminate it.

Dr Gavin Dabrera, consultant in acute respiratory infections at PHE, added that the local Health Protection Team will give advice to those at the farm and will work alongside the DEFRA to monitor the situation.

Over in Denmark, millions of mink have been culled due to the animals being linked to a COVID-19 mutation risk.

According to the country’s health officials, the animals show reduced sensitivity to COVID antibodies. With this in mind, if a human were to contract the virus from a mink, they may also show reduced sensitivity to any future vaccines.

The cull had led to millions of minks being buried in mass graves, but they are now being dug up to be cremated after gasses from the animals’ decomposition began to seep into the surrounding soil, pushing the carcasses towards the surface.

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