Turkeys suspected of being infected with avian flu were being culled at a second farm in Suffolk yesterday.

Test results today will confirm whether 30 turkeys found dead at Grove Farm, Botesdale, were infected with the lethal virus. Some 5,500 birds were culled there. Grove Farm is within the 3km exclusion zone around Redgrave Park Farm where suspected bird flu was confirmed as the H5N1 strain on Monday. Government veterinary experts are also anxious to learn if ducks and geese at the organic Redgrave Park Farm were also infected.

The next day or two are critical to find out whether the virus is spreading to other farms and if it is now circulating in the local wild bird population.

Fred Landeg, the acting chief veterinary officer, has asked all poultry keepers and hobby farmers to be vigilant and to keep check on their birds. All poultry are supposed to be kept indoors while the threat of the virus remains in East Anglia — one of the biggest poultry production regions in the country with some 25 million farmed birds, 5 million of which are sold for the Christmas market.

Veterinary epidemiologists are still uncertain how the virus was brought to Redgrave Park Farm but the focus is to ensure that it is not spreading.

Investigations are continuing into whether there is any connection with outbreaks in southern Germany and the Czech Republic this summer. The Suffolk strain of H5N1 is almost identical to that found on the continent.

As The Times reported yesterday the investigation is also focusing on imported one-day-old ducklings from the Netherlands. Even though these chicks were not reared at Redgrave Park Farm, it is possible that the virus was transported in the vehicles or crates transporting the ducks.

Animal health officers are meticulously scouring paperwork to find any possible link to the virus outbreaks on the continent.

Peter Ainsworth, the Conservative rural affairs spokesman, last night tabled a series of questions asking the Government to disclose whether any poultry meat had been imported to the UK from Germany and the Czech Republic in recent months.

He told The Times: “It looks increasingly doubtful that wild birds are to blame for this outbreak and we must therefore look at other options.”

The virus can live in faeces that can be transferred by vehicles, drivers, farm staff, bird crates, packaging, feathers or live birds. It can travel on footwear and on tyres. The virus in faeces can survive from a few days to several weeks depending on conditions such as temperature and humidity.

Meanwhile, ornithological experts remain baffled and are sceptical whether the disease was brought by wild birds. After the German outbreak, not a single infected wild bird was found.

Poultry farmers are incensed by what they perceive as lax biosecurity at the farm which allowed turkeys, geese and ducks to mingle with wild birds near an ornamental lake. Many are now demanding new rules for free-range and organic birds and for the Government to regulate rather than offer guidance about the need to keep outdoor farmed birds away from places where wild birds congregate.

Heavyweight problem

— UK sales of poultry are worth £3.5 billion at retail

— Fresh chicken sales are worth £2.1 billion

— UK turkey market worth £375 million to £400 million

— Fresh turkey sales account for £240 million

— There are 860 million chickens a produced a year, giving 1.3 million tonnes of poultry meat

— There are 17 million turkeys reared in Britain producing 185,000 tonnes of meat

— There are 19 million ducks reared producing 44,000 tonnes of meat

— About 100,000 geese are reared for the Christmas market East Anglia accounts for a third of the UK poultry production

— There are 1,200 poultry farmers and 25 million birds of which 5 million are turkeys in the restricted area of Suffolk and parts of Norfolk

— In the 10km surveillance zone there are 90 poultry keepers with 3 million birds

— The incubation period for avian flu in turkeys is three to five days though it can be five to seven days in other species

— The survival rate of the virus in faeces can vary from days to week depending on termperature and humidity

— Up to 27,000 turkeys, 1,200 ducks and 500 geese have been culled or are awaiting slaughter

Source: British Poultry Council, Defra

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