National registration for commercial poultry keepers
Commercial poultry keepers will be asked to register their flocks as part of an initiative, backed by the industry, to step up surveillance of the avian influenza virus, the Government announced today.
Defra already has a detailed contingency plan in the event of an outbreak but this new move, announced today by the Prime Minister and the president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), will further reinforce our protection against any future outbreak of the disease.
Currently Defra, the NFU and individual poultry organisations, hold information separately but no central register exists.
Combining all the information on one database containing the location and size of enterprises would be a major advantage to aid effective communication between keepers and help manage any outbreak. Defra will start inviting new registrations from poultry businesses within the next month.
Meanwhile, Defra is also publishing today a simple one-page guide on avian flu and how poultry keepers can reduce the risk of disease. Information for farmers is available on the website, and farmers should seek advice from their vet.
This is especially directed at non-commercial and hobby keepers. Defra will work closely with the non-commercial sector to ensure the guide is made widely available.
Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said: "The recent confirmed outbreaks of the H5N1 strain in Turkey and Romania have refocused attention on our avian influenza contingency plans.
"Defra has worked closely with the poultry industry to prepare its contingency plans which were successfully tested in July. We believe we are prepared to deal with an outbreak.
"The European directive on avian influenza will require us to introduce a poultry register by 2007 but we must move much faster than that.
"This database would be another safeguard to help identify an outbreak but, more importantly, limit its spread. It would allow us to know where poultry farms are and target effort and resources effectively.
"I want to thank the NFU and the poultry organisations for their continued advice and assistance. Farmers hold the key to tackling any notifiable disease and we will continue to work together with them to ensure any avian influenza outbreak is quickly contained an eradicated."
