NGO respond to Defra risk assessment into Avian Influenza and game birds

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Today (15^th December), Defra published a risk assessment which aimed to analyse the risk of pheasants transmitting high pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) into the wild bird population.  

The assessment is retrospective, focusing on a short period of time in July and August 2022. At that time, Avian Influenza (AI) was being seen at unprecedented levels in both captive and wild birds, and that is the context in which the assessment was produced. It does not take into account the 5 months from August until now, in which time we have gathered vast amounts of data and information about AI and its behaviour in bird populations. 

The assessment looks at the theoretical risk of released gamebirds transmitting AI into the wild bird population. The GWCT confirm that between then and now (15 December 2022), there have been no confirmed cases of pheasants being released that were previously infected with HPAI, and no confirmed cases of wild birds being infected with HPAI due to contact with infected gamebirds. 

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation is disappointed that the shooting sector – including both ourselves and our partners within the Aim to Sustain group – were not consulted adequately prior to the publication of this report.  

This is a shame both for us and for Defra, as improved dialogue with people who actually work with both game birds and wild birds would have provided them with valuable insights, and made this a far more robust document. 

Defra acknowledge “that there is high uncertainty inherent in this assessment with a lack of data and a reliance on assumptions”. This is not a policy document, and due to the lack of the certainty and scientific scrutiny within the assessment, as well as the limited timeframe of it, the document itself can have few further implications.  

Defra also acknowledge that this is “a working document”, which will not impact on the remainder of this season. It is not a current assessment of the situation we see in the countryside today, and there are numerous assumptions made which do not reflect reality.  

This assessment looks backwards; it does not relate to what could happen next year. We would therefore urge our members and other readers of this statement to refrain from making any serious decisions based on this risk assessment.  

Tim Weston, the NGO’s lead on AI, said: 

“The lack of engagement with the sector when creating this risk assessment is very disappointing.  The fact that this is just a tiny snapshot of a very short period of time – and without a full data set – renders this entire risk assessment almost completely irrelevant.  

“There are so many areas within this assessment where the NGO and our Aim to Sustain partners would have been able to add valuable information and knowledge which would have improved its certainty and robustness. We are very keen to engage more closely with Defra on any future assessments.”