Bird flu fear as 1,000 turkeys die in mystery outbreak
AN outbreak of the deadly H5 bird flu virus has struck a poultry farm, killing almost 1000 turkeys, government vets confirmed last night.
Experts were called to the farm near Lowestoft, Suffolk, late on Thursday following the outbreak of an “unexplained” illness.
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) last night that preliminary tests had confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H5 virus, but it is not yet known if it is the H5N1 strain, which can be passed to people and has claimed dozen of human lives in Asia.
Further tests were being carried out on the birds which died at a farm believed to be owned by Bernard Matthews, in Holton near Halesworth.
Defra said reports from the farm were received late on Thursday night and the premises were immediately placed under restrictions.
“A full investigation began at 9am this (Friday) morning, with samples being sent to Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge, for testing,” she said.
It is understood the farmer reported a suspected outbreak after a “significant” number of his birds died suddenly.
About 80% to 90% of the turkeys in the shed were showing signs of illness - going off their food and general malaise, which are among the symptoms of avian flu.
Chickens culled
There are 15 types of bird, or avian, flu. The most contagious strains, which are usually fatal in birds, are H5 and H7.
There are nine different types of H5. The nine all take different forms - some are highly pathogenic, while some are pretty harmless.
The type currently causing concern is the deadly strain H5N1, which can prove fatal to humans.
In May last year, more than 50,000 chickens were culled after an outbreak of the H7 bird flu in farms in the neighbouring county of Norfolk.
It is the second time in less than 12 months that an East Anglian poultry farm has been hit by bird flu.
More than 30,000 birds were slaughtered after chickens near Dereham, Norfolk, tested positive in April.
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