Interim Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales Gavin Watkins has confirmed the presence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 in poultry at a site in Anglesey. This follows a confirmed case of the virus on 1st October 2022.
A 3km Protection Zone and 10km Surveillance Zone have been declared around the infected premises, to limit the risk of disease spread. Within these zones, bird movements and gatherings are restricted and all holdings that keep birds must be declared by law. The measures are stricter in the 3km Protection Zone compared to the 10km Surveillance Zone.
The Welsh government said that it is vital that keepers of birds remain vigilant and ensure they have the very highest levels of biosecurity in place.
The UK health agencies advise that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and UK food standards agencies say that avian influenza poses a very low food safety risk for UK consumers.
Full information on Avian Influenza restrictions is available here. Full details on bird keepers’ responsibilities and checklist can be found here.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
