Cases of High Path AI (H5N8) in Hungary, Poland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Croatia, once again draw attention to the importance of maintaining the high standards of farm hygiene, biosecurity that farmers uphold, as well as avoiding contact with wild birds. Wider than Europe there have also been cases in India, Japan, Korea, Russia, Iran, Israel and Algeria, although the strains differ between countries.
Defra has put the risk of incursion level in to British poultry farms at “medium". Farmers are urged to continue to maintain high standards of biosecurity at all times.
Please read new measures imposed by DEFRA, here, to find further details on the housing order implemented on the 6th Dec 2016 for all poultry.
NFU chief poultry adviser Gary Ford said: “Farmers take farm hygiene very seriously - and the Poultry Health and Welfare Group's (PHWG) AI roadshows give poultry producers from across the UK the opportunity to safeguard their businesses and look at contingency planning.
“It is important to stress that this is a disease in birds and that there is no risk to human health and the NFU has taken the lead in ensuring the poultry industry is knowledgeable on AI and how it can impact farm businesses.”
Members who have attended one of the PHWG AI talks can access all the information including the AI booklet and poster online at www.nfuonline.com/ai/ and you can find out more about the upcoming roadshows here.