bird flu hits bernard mathews turkeys...what do you think?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

they suggest that you wash your hands after touching any animal... as justie said.... hygiene ......

kate83

Just thought I'd shjare this with you - it's about the link between avian flu and wild birds - very interesting if a little long

http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=194

Also I think it's very unlikely that a wild bird caused the current infection as it's only been found in waterbirds so far and I doubt one of those could sneak in without being noticed! Also it would've infected local birds free ranging in the area first. Also it's the wrong time of year for migration of wild birds - if due to this you would have expected it in the autumn.
There have been links with the outbreak in Hungary (same strain) as BM owns the largest poultry operation there although they deny importing live birds, they refuse to comment on eggs (or feed - some feeds contain the litter from broiler sheds for some strange reason)
I also suspect that they use cheap foreign labour in these "farms" so contamination could have come from a member of staff.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

[QUOTE=kate83


I also suspect that they use cheap foreign labour in these "farms" so contamination could have come from a member of staff.[/QUOTE]


me and my hubby were just saying that.... as the last out break of this particular strain was in hungary......

so in our opinion..... it could still be infected birds out there in romote farms etc.. going undetected.. or un reported.... and someone has come over from there to work with an agency.... as in most big factories these days... the job agencies put overseas workers in there.. as the locals dont stick it....

or another outrageous theory that hubby came up with.. was....... beause of all the bad publicity that it was 'planted' there...

so lets see what experts say how it got into one shed.. with no other infected birds near or anywhere else in britain...

Justie

kate83 wrote:

Also it's the wrong time of year for migration of wild birds - if due to this you would have expected it in the autumn.

migration is twice yearly - while the spring migration isn't expected usually for another month or so it's been a very mild winter and the skies of Norfolk are full of geese at the moment.

There are several possible routes of infection, feed is one as you've said and it's very possible that it's from this route. It's unlikely that a wild bird would have got into the unit as I don't think these were 'free range' birds but I haven't seen anything to confirm that. The other possible route for infection is a worker bringing it in via their boots from the surrounding area - in good bio-security then all outdoor clothing should be changed on entering units or disinfectant foot baths should be walked through on the way into the unit but I don't know if either of these apply here so it's quite possible that a worker could have trodden in something and walked it into the unit.

For a worker to transfer it from Hungary I think is unlikely but I don't know how long the virus lives outside the bird (my guess would be a short time only). If feed is imported that is a possible route or if birds were but given the age of the birds it doesn't sound like new birds were brought into that unit any time around the time of the infection.

I'm interested to know how it got in as it goes against the received wisdom that outdoor reared birds are more at risk.

Fivenations

Maybe it's the sick work of a so called Animal Llover fro the ALF.
Sorry - Been watching to many conspiracy theory programmes.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

maybe the feed got contaminated at source.... as i should imagine he uses inported grain.....and maybe with the heat and moisture on the floor generated in those sheds..... re-activated the virus....as everyone with poultry knows.. they like picking at the floor etc out of habbit bordom... looking for food........ so maybe thats how it got into the poultry........

maybe this virus can lay dormant in bird poo for a certain length of time

will we ever know the truth who knows.....

Justie

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

will we ever know the truth who knows.....

probably not

another theory is that the birds had a low level avain flu virus that mutated into H5N1 - I don't know enough about the virus strains but it seems odd that it would spontaneously mutate into the same strain as the Hungarian farm, but it may be that's possible.

Addiscomber

I read somewhere that the virus can remain viable in bird poo for about 35 days. That gives scope for a variety of routes of infection - feed, whatever they use for bedding/litter, eggs for hatching, young chicks from elsewhere, on staff. Just so easy to blame a wild bird, although without saying how it got through so-called bio-security. Surely there is no point in bio-security for poultry if it doesn't keep out all birds? I have no trust in big agricultural businesses.

competitionscafe

There were bird flu outbreaks as near as France just under a year ago and after the usual flurry of news reporting and mild panic it all went away...fingers crossed that this will just be an isolated outbreak too.

"And if you've got a wing, you haven't got a prayer of freedom in France. Since the arrival of bird flu, the French have ordered all domestic birds be kept indoors. That includes formerly foot-loose, free-range flocks.

CNN's Jim Bitterman reports from Loue, France.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you didn't already know, there are a number of clues that chickens put Loue, France, on the map.

There's a restaurant dedicated to the hardy rooster, a bronze statue dedicated to a great chicken chef, a huge grain elevator dedicated to making chicken feed. And then, of course, there is the market here, as across the country, all those birds branded "Loue," a brand belonging to an agricultural cooperative that sells about a quarter of the poultry consumed in this country. In part, because it maintains strict rules about feeding and free-range farming.

Every chicken, turkey or duck worthy of the name also bears the slogan "Raised in Freedom," reflecting the method and mystique of the poultry production. Now, though, bird flu has changed that.

"From the moment of government said put them inside, we followed the letter of the law," says Alan Alinau (ph), in the farm near Loue where he and his son raise turkeys and chickens. Their birds used to run free in the fields and pens near the barns, but the government ordered all domestic birds inside out of fear wild birds might infect the domestic ones.

Loue's staff veterinarian says it's the only way to make sure the infection doesn't spread. She knows many of the cooperative's 1,000 poultry producers and says everyone reacted quickly to fight the disease. And while it's no doubt better to raise poultry outdoors, she says farmers can probably get almost identical birds indoors as long as they follow the other rules of the cooperative.

The wild birds peacefully feeding on the River Vagre in downtown Loue hardly seem like the enemy, but few in town could not take notice of the bird flu threat when the mayor posted signs in every shop window warning that all domestic birds of any sort have to be reported and kept indoors.

At a Loue restaurant famous for its chicken dishes, the cook says local producers are plenty worried even if they don't admit it and that there have been layoffs on some farms because consumer demand falls every time there is another outbreak of bird flu.

Meanwhile, back at the Alinaus, son Flurant says it's just plain sad that his turkeys are not allowed run free. One of his great pleasures, he says, was to watch his birds go flapping out of the barn each morning, something that is now impossible. But his family has been in farming for at least 10 generations, and his father says through drought, flood, or disease, they've always managed the crises and they'll get through this one.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Loue, France." March 22, 2006

COOLTRIKERCHICK

just had breaking new..... that the turkey farm in hungary is owned..... or supplies bernard mathews....

this is where there was an outbreak about a year ago... and that is where the last outbreak in eu was....

the plot thickens.........

bernard mathews deny that there was imported birds or food from hungary..... and that all the british birds that were infected.... were british bred.....