Tuesday, 14 July 2015

A case of H7N7 birdflu has been acertained at a poultry farm in Lancashire.


     A six-mile (10km) surveillance zone and two-mile (3km) protection zone have been put in place around the farm to stop the "highly pathogenic" case from spreading.
   A humane culling of all birds at the farm is taking place, officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have said.
The farm, near Preston, is owned by family firm Staveley's Eggs, which produces and packages eggs.
Chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens said: "Final tests results have confirmed a case of avian flu at a farm in Lancashire.
"Restrictions put in place last week will continue and the humane culling of all birds at the site is progressing.
"These actions are part of our tried and tested approach to dealing with previous outbreaks.
"Public Health England has confirmed that the risk to public health from this strain is very low. The Food Standards Agency has said there is no food safety risk for consumers."
H7N7 can harm humans, but it is not the H5N1 strain that has killed hundreds of people worldwide.
The last highly pathogenic case of avian flu was in Yorkshire last November, when an outbreak of H5N8 flu was detected following an outbreak on the continent.

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