Hi Kyle,

Its not our first outbreak, there have been several "wild bird" infections 
found and 1 commercial turkey farm ("Bernard Mathews" - Feb 2007 
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6571157.stm>).

Cheers

Deri


On Tuesday 13 November 2007 13:13:40 Cleveland, Kyle E. wrote:
> Hey all, this just came through the wire.  Looks like it's finally
> reached Western Europe.  This is not a good omen:
>
> England: Confirmed H5 avian influenza in Suffolk poultry farm [Nov 12
> London England]--The Department for the Environment Food and Rural
> Affairs (Defra) has today confirmed avian influenza in turkeys on
> premises near Diss on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. Preliminary tests were
> positive for the H5 strain.
>
> Full confirmation of these preliminary results, including whether or not
> this is H5N1 and whether the strain is high or low pathogenic, will be
> made available by Defra in due course.
>
> As required under EU legislation, Defra will be culling all poultry on
> the infected premises and have imposed a 3-kilometre protection zone and
> a 10-kilometre outer surveillance zone around the farm area. This is to
> prevent further spread to neighbouring flocks and/or farms.
>
> Despite this incident the current level of risk to humans from H5 avian
> influenza remains extremely low. Nonetheless, any possibility of
> exposure is taken very seriously and the Health Protection Agency is
> working closely with Defra and local NHS partners to ensure that all the
> necessary actions are being taken to protect those people who may have
> been exposed to the virus.
>
> These actions include the offering of antiviral drugs and seasonal
> influenza vaccine where appropriate to people who have been in close
> contact with the infected poultry.
>
> Concerned local residents can ring the Defra helpline for further
> information on avian influenza on 08459 33 55 77 between 6.00am -
> 10.00pm Monday to Friday.
>
> Avian influenza, or "bird flu", is a contagious disease of birds caused
> by viruses that normally only infect wild birds and, rarely, other
> species including domestic poultry. There is no evidence of sustained
> human-to-human transmission.
>
> Professor Nigel Lightfoot, Head of Influenza Programmes at the Health
> Protection Agency, said: "Despite this occurrence the current level of
> risk to humans from avian flu is extremely low. Most human H5 infections
> so far have occurred through direct contact with live or dead infected
> poultry."

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