Dutch authorities confirm bird flu that can be transmitted to humans at chicken farm

[Locutus]

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Dutch government on Sunday banned the transport of poultry and eggs throughout the country after confirming an outbreak of bird flu at a chicken farm.

The Ministry for Economic Affairs said the outbreak is deadly to poultry and can also be transmitted to humans. Spokesman Jan van Diepen said the exact strain of bird flu has not yet been established.

All 150,000 chickens at the farm in Hekendorp, 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of Amsterdam, were being slaughtered. It was not clear how the farm became infected.

As well as halting the movement of poultry, other birds and eggs nationwide for 72 hours, the government is imposing other restrictions, including banning the transport of byproducts such as poultry manure and hay that have been used in poultry farms.

Also Sunday, British authorities confirmed a case of bird flu at a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire in northern England.

Officials have not confirmed the strain of the virus, but said the risk to public health was very low and there was no risk to the food chain.

A cull of all poultry at the farm was being carried out.


Dutch authorities confirm bird flu that can be transmitted to humans at chicken farm | 680News

 

[Blackleaf]

Bird flu confirmed at Yorkshire duck farm

17 November 2014
BBC News

The farm is in the village of Nafferton, East Yorkshire

A case of bird flu has been confirmed at a duck breeding farm in East Yorkshire, officials have said.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the risk to public health was very low. The poultry is being culled and a 6 mile exclusion zone is in place.

The exact strain has not been confirmed but the H5N1 form, deadly to humans, has been ruled out by Defra officials.

The virus spreads between birds and, in rare cases, can affect humans.

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

On Sunday, an outbreak of a highly contagious strain of bird flu was discovered at a poultry farm in the Netherlands.

The Dutch government has temporarily banned the transport of poultry and eggs.


'Strong record'

The exclusion zone around the farm in the village of Nafferton will prevent all poultry and poultry waste being transferred in or out of the area, and some 6,000 ducks will be culled, Defra told BBC News.

Some 6,000 ducks will now be culled at the farm in Nafferton

It said the flu strain had been identified as the H5 virus, stressing that it was not the H5N1 strain.

A Defra spokeswoman said: "We have confirmed a case of avian flu on a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire - the public health risk is very low and there is no risk to the food chain.

"We are taking immediate and robust action which includes introducing a restriction zone and culling all poultry on the farm to prevent any potential spread of infection. A detailed investigation is ongoing.

"We have a strong track record of controlling and eliminating previous outbreaks of avian flu in the UK."

A Public Health England spokesman said: "Public Health England are assisting Defra in the investigation of an avian flu outbreak at a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire.

"Based on what we know about this specific strain of avian influenza, the risk to human health in this case is considered extremely low."

Some 150,000 hens are being culled at the infected farm in the Netherlands

Analysis

by Michelle Roberts, health editor, BBC news website

There are many types of bird flu, and most are harmless to humans. Some strains, like H5N1 and H7N9, can potentially spread from birds to people if there is prolonged close contact.

Even then, the virus is unlikely to spread from person to person and there is no evidence that cooked poultry can infect people.

The ultimate concern is that a bird flu virus will one day mutate and acquire the ability to spread in people.

The most infamous pandemic - the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed millions - probably came from birds.

UK chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens told the BBC it was a serious disease of poultry and it would be a few days before the exact strain would be known.

"The link to the disease they found in Germany and the Netherlands is our most likely source and, on that basis, Public Health England has said with this strain there is not a risk to public health," he said.

He said the disease can be spread when poultry are moved, through the cages used to transport them and the people who work with the birds.

"It can also be spread by the wild bird population and that happens quite regularly," he said.

"There's a number of routes and we are looking to do as much as we can to find out the source and eliminate any further risks."

The farm's bio-security was good, he added, and they were checking other poultry farms within the exclusion zone. But he warned that more cases could follow.

According to the NHS, most types of bird flu are harmless to humans.

But two strains, 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.


BBC News - Bird flu confirmed at Yorkshire duck farm