Halton Borough Council is advising keepers of poultry and birds in Halton of control measures that have been put in place following the detection of avian flu in a flock of 750 pheasants in South Warrington.

The Government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has implemented a 3km protection zone and a 10 km surveillance zone around the affected premises.

The 3km protection zone includes parts of Daresbury and Moore, while the 10km surveillance zone extends into parts of Runcorn and Widnes.

Within the protection zone all poultry and captive birds including domestic poultry and pets must be housed to prevent contact with wild birds.

Owners of commercial and domestic poultry flocks within the both the protection and surveillance zones are encouraged to register their birds with APHA to enable APHA to conduct surveillance activities and provide information to keepers in the event of an outbreak. Information on how to register birds can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/poultry-including-game-birds-registration-rules-and-forms

Details of the areas covered by the protection and surveillance zones and the control measures in place can be found at https://www.gov.uk/animal-disease-cases-england/bird-flu-near-warrington-south-warrington-cheshire-aiv-2023-slash-49

 

Notes

  • The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said that avian influenza is primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low.
  • The Food Standards Agency has said that on the basis of the current scientific evidence, avian influenza poses a very low food safety risk for UK consumers. Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.
  • The NHS has further information for people who work with poultry uk/conditions/bird-flu
  • ‘Poultry’ means a bird reared or kept in captivity for the production of meat or eggs for consumption, or of other products, for restocking supplies of game or for the purposes of any breeding programme for the production of such categories of birds.
  • ‘Captive bird’ means a bird kept in captivity which is not poultry and includes a pet bird and a bird kept for shows, races, exhibitions, competitions, breeding or for sale.

 

 

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