Another Confirmed Case of Bird Flu in Lincolnshire

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The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) is advising its members that H5N8 avian flu was confirmed on 16 January 2017 in a flock of turkeys at a farm in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

This follows confirmation of the disease in a flock of turkeys on a nearby farm on 16 December last year. Defra says there is unlikely to be a direct link to the previous case but a full investigation is under way to confirm this. For further details click here

A 3km Protection Zone and 10km Surveillance Zone have been set up around the infected premises, to limit the risk of the disease spreading. Shooting is not restricted in either zone, and movement of shot gamebirds is permissible both within and from both the Protection and Surveillance Zones.

The NGO would urge shooting interests in the immediate vicinity of the bird flu outbreak to give due consideration to their plans at this time.

The NGO would like to remind members that government has come together with countryside and shooting organisations and issued on 13 January important information about bird flu to all those specifically involved with gamebirds. To read the background to the announcement and for the link leading to the advice, please click here

Members of the NGO and others in the shooting community with captive birds are also reminded of the importance of following the enhanced biosecurity requirements that are in force in the Prevention Zones that have been declared right across the whole of England, Wales and Scotland. The measures include the need to take appropriate steps to keep captive birds separate from wild birds.

Keepers should be aware that the Prevention Zones were extended on 4 January and now run until 28 February in order to help protect poultry and captive birds from avian flu. For details click here

Northern Ireland declared a 30-day Prevention Zone on 23 December. Click here for details.

Important official guidance and advice on all relevant aspects of avian influenza – from implementing biosecurity measures to spotting symptoms and how to go about reporting suspected cases – are available in a directory on the Defra website. It can be viewed by clicking here

The NGO continues to ask its members to be vigilant and to report any dead wild waterfowl (swans, geese or ducks) or gulls or five or more dead wild birds of other species, when encountered in the same location in unusual circumstances, to the Defra helpline on 03459 33 55 77. Details of how to spot the symptoms of bird flu can be found here

A spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation said: “We would like our members to keep checking the NGO website for updates on avian influenza and to continue to monitor wild birds for any indications of bird flu. It is also essential that all those who are involved with game have read the specific advice on gamebirds that was issued on the NGO website on 13 January [to view the document click here]”.