Bird Flu Crisis: UK Farmers on High Alert as Housing Order extended, Experts Warn of Mutation Risk
North Wraxall, wiltshire – Poultry farmers across the UK are bracing for a prolonged period of heightened vigilance as avian influenza continues to spread, prompting a nationwide order to house birds indoors. The measures, intended to curb the escalating outbreak, are causing significant disruption to the industry, particularly for free-range producers.
Sarah Godwin, who runs a mixed egg, arable and dairy farm near North Wraxall with her husband and brother-in-law, explained the difficult reality facing producers. Her 32,000-laying hens, normally allowed outdoors for moast of the day, are now confined to barns “around the clock.” “It is indeed terrible. We would love to see them out but it is just a necessary evil because the risk of them catching avian influenza is so high and the consequences are so disastrous for a producer, and for the hens as well,” she saeid. Despite strict biosecurity protocols, Godwin expressed ongoing concern, stating, “It only takes a tiny, tiny bit of contaminated muck from a wild bird or something that’s been brought into the shed on somebody’s boots… It’s literally grammes that can infect the whole flock. And at that point, the whole flock has to be culled.”
The UK Health Security agency (UKHSA) maintains the risk to public health remains “very low,” and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) asserts that properly-cooked poultry and eggs pose a “very low” food safety risk. However, experts are emphasizing the need for constant monitoring of the virus for potential mutations.
Professor Brown cautioned that while the virus currently primarily affects birds, influenza viruses are prone to change. “We have to continually monitor the virus, as it’s an influenza virus and influenza viruses change… They make mistakes and errors when they replicate. So that could always spew out a variant that might be more infectious for humans.”
UK chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss has urged all bird keepers to adhere to the housing measures and maintain “robust biosecurity measures,remain alert for any signs of disease and report suspected disease immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.” She acknowledged the impact on the industry, expressing gratitude for the poultry sector’s cooperation and noting that housing birds has historically reduced infection rates.
Industry leaders have largely supported the government’s response. Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, called the housing order “the right move at the right time,” while Gary Ford, from the British Free Range Egg Producers Association, said it provided “the clarity and consistency that producers have been calling for.”
