All poultry in England to be allowed outside this week as housing order is lifted

The decision to lift the additional requirements in the Higher Risk areas is based on the latest scientific evidence
The decision to lift the additional requirements in the Higher Risk areas is based on the latest scientific evidence

All poultry in England will be allowed outside from Thursday 13 April following the latest updated evidence on the risk posed by wild birds.

The requirement to keep poultry in Higher Risk Areas of England housed or completely enclosed in netting, introduced to minimise the risk of them catching avian flu from wild birds, will be lifted, the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer has announced.

However, all keepers in England will continue to be required to comply with strict biosecurity measures. A ban on poultry gatherings also remains in force until further notice.

The decision to lift the additional requirements in the Higher Risk areas is based on the latest scientific evidence and veterinary advice, which concludes that the level of risk to poultry in the Higher Risk Areas has now reduced to the same level as that across the rest of England.

This is because of changes in the wild bird population: the majority of over-wintering migratory birds have now left the UK, and resident wild waterfowl are at their lowest levels and entering the breeding season when they become less likely to move long distances to forage for food.

However, the National Farmers Union (NFU) has begun lobbying the EU Commission for a solution to the marketing of free range eggs if there is another outbreak of Avian Influenza later this year.

Risk remains heightened

Nigel Gibbens said that this year‘s outbreaks have been ?unprecedented”
Nigel Gibbens said that this year‘s outbreaks have been ?unprecedented”

The risk of poultry becoming infected from H5N8 remains heightened and countries across Europe continue to experience outbreaks and observe cases in wild birds.

Defra is stepping up surveillance of wild birds across the UK to inform our risk assessments.

All poultry keepers are being urged to take steps to reduce the risk to their birds, including minimising movement in and out of bird enclosures, cleaning footwear, keeping areas where birds live clean and tidy and feeding birds indoors.

Chief Veterinary Officer Nigel Gibbens said: "We continually review our disease control measures in light of new scientific evidence and veterinary advice.

"Based on the latest evidence on reduced numbers of migratory and resident aquatic wild birds we believe that kept birds in the areas we previously designated as Higher Risk are now at the same level of risk as the rest of England and may now be let outside.

"However, all keepers must still observe strict disease prevention measures to reduce the risk of contamination from the environment, where the virus can survive for several weeks in bird droppings.

"This does not mean business as usual: the risk from avian flu has not gone away and a Prevention Zone remains in place, requiring keepers across England to take steps to prevent disease spreading."

Allowed outside once again

Lifting the housing requirement in Higher Risk Areas means free range birds across every part of England can now be allowed outside again.

H5N8 avian flu has been found in wild and farmed birds in the UK since December 2016, including chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese.

Where avian flu has been confirmed, the Government has tried to limit the spread of disease with restrictions around affected premises and full investigations to determine the source of infection.

H5N8 can be spread indirectly via the contaminated environment, for example in wild bird droppings, contaminated feed or bedding, as well as being passed from wild birds to poultry directly from bird to bird.

The UK has seen its fair share of bird flu cases throughout winter. There has been a case on a Suffolk duck farm on the 3 March, on a chicken farm in Northumberland on 24 February, in a pheasant farm in Suffolk on 13 February, Lancashire on 30 January, in a turkey farm in Boston, Lincolnshire on 26 January, in a flock of farmed pheasants at a premises in Preston, Lancashire on 24 January, in a backyard flock in North Yorkshire on 6 January, in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on 3 January, at a turkey farm in Lincolnshire on 16 December and in a number of wild birds across England, Wales and Scotland.