The poultry company at the centre of the avian flu outbreak admitted yesterday that lorries from Hungary had made regular visits to its Holton plant, where almost 160,000 chicks have been culled.

Government vets are investigating urgently possible links between the Bernard Matthews firm and the outbreak of the H5N1 virus on a goose farm in Hungary ten days ago. Experts have confirmed that the strain of the virus in Britain is almost identical to that in Hungary.

Until yesterday, spokesmen for Bernard Matthews had consistently denied to The Times any possibility of vehicles or staff moving between its plant at Holton and Hungary.

Transmission of the disease via the droppings of a wild bird is still considered the most likely source of the infection, but a possible link through the movement of human beings from Hungary is being investigated. Checks are being made on vehicles used to transport frozen turkey carcasses to Britain, and to see if any collections were made from the goose farm on behalf of another importer.

Investigators are also anxious to trace any drivers or passengers who travelled to Britain and whether there is any link to the company’s turkey farm operation. But even if a link is established, it is still difficult to understand how chicks isolated and enclosed in sheds could have been infected — especially as there are strict controls on movement between the farm and processing plant.

The possibility of a connection is also expected to be raised at a meeting of European vets in Brussels today. Experts are baffled as to how the same strain can appear in wild birds when there has been no obvious recent migration of birds from the region to Britain.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said yesterday that every line of inquiry was being pursued and that Hungary remained part of the investigation.

But even after admitting regular vehicle journeys yesterday, a spokeswoman for Bernard Matthews said: “The Hungarian Government’s senior veterinarian had established that there is no link. Furthermore, Anthony Greenleaves, head of Veterinary Public Health, has said they are not investigating Bernard Matthews vehicles or meat from Hungary and do not consider any possible link or risk.”

A spokesman for Mr Greenleaves disputed the company’s version and said that all options remained under investigation. Within two hours, the company spokeswoman had to revise its response to say that “investigations carried out to date on all movements that occurred from and to the farm during the disease-risk period have not identified any links between the farm and the processing facility”.

There was no senior manager or director at Bernard Matthews willing to give an interview yesterday. A clean-up of the sheds and gassing zone at the site used for the cull is expected to begin today. The plant will be closed for at least 30 days but staff had still not been informed by the company yesterday if they were to be transferred to other units, to be paid for loss of work or to be made redundant.

Japan and Russia were the first countries to impose a trading ban on poultry meat and live birds from Britain. Some £370 million a year in export trade is at stake.

Other countries and areas that also imposed bans yesterday were Hong Kong, South Africa, South Korea, Macedonia, and Jersey. The Irish Republic and Northern Ireland also imposed restrictions.

An official at the European Commission said that it would fight any outright ban on British poultry, adding that there was international agreement that the export ban should apply only to birds produced within the large exclusion zone set up around the outbreak.

“Poultry and meat from outside that zone can still be exported,” the official said.

The industry is still worried that the publicity could dent confidence in the retail poultry meat market, worth £3.4 billion a year. Even Tony Blair felt it necessary to make it known that he was happy to carry on eating poultry.

Turkey farmers said that wholesalers were still paying from £3.80 to £4 a kg for turkey breast meat and that orders were being maintained. Tesco admitted it had a 1 per cent dip in poultry sales but Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s said sales were unchanged.

Peter Kendall, the president of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “There are no risks from eating poultry meat and eggs provided they are cooked properly.”

— A 17-year-old girl in Fayyoum province, Egypt, has died of bird flu, taking the country’s number of confirmed deaths from the disease to 12, a World Health Organisation official said. The girl was believed to have been infected after coming into contact with sick and dead birds. (Reuters)

Bird flu in East Anglia

Birds most likely to bring the disease

Bewick’s Swan Cygnus columbianus from Siberia
Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus from Iceland
Mute Swan Cygnus olor resident bird but migration from continent in severe winter weather
Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhnchus from Iceland
Bean Goose Anser fabalis from Scandinavia and northern Russia
Greater White-fronted Goose (European Race) Anser albifrons albifrons from Russia
Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus from Northern Scandinavia and eastern Siberia
Greylag Goose Anser anser from Iceland and Scandinavia
Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis from Greenland to Spitsbergen)
Brent Goose Branta bernicla dark-bellied birds from Spitsbergen
Canada Goose Branta candadensis resident bird in UK
Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope from central Russia
Commmon Teal Anas Crecca from central Russia
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos resident in UK
Northern Pintail Anas acuta from Russia
Garganey Anas querquedula
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata from central Russia
Red-crested Pochard Netta Rufina from Mongolia
Common Pochard Aythya ferina from central Russia
Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula from Icceland,central Russia and northern Europe
Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus from the near continent
Eurasian Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria from Siberia
Blacktailed Godwit Limosa limosa from Iceland
Ruff Philomachus pugnax Scandinavia and eastern Russia
Blackheaded Gull Larus ridibundus from Iceland, the Baltic areaas, eastern Russia and northern Europe
Common Gull Larus canus Scandinavia

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