British authorities are increasingly concerned about the possible return of avian influenza following a number of outbreaks in continental Europe.
The risk of avian influenza in the United Kingdom currently remains low, despite confirmation of outbreaks in continental Europe.
Authorities have confirmed to the OIE (the World Organisation for Animal Health) that bird flu has struck in a near 42,000-bird commercial layer flock in the Zeeland region of the Netherlands.
The strain involved is a low path type H5N2 - the virus involved in large bird flu outbreaks in the United States in 2015.
A new highly pathogenic outbreak of a H5 strain has also been reported on a farm in Bulgaria involving nearly 11,000 birds. Culling has been carried out on both farms and restrictions have been put in place around the affected premises.
Perhaps more significant for the United Kingdom, is that highly pathogenic H5N8 - the strain that hit the UK and the rest of Europe last winter - has been found in a wild bird in Germany.
This is on a route that migratory birds take on their way to the UK.
On Wednesday (25 October), the UK government increased the bird flu risk from low to medium for wild birds in UK, but poultry flocks remain low.
'Better position'
Despite the discovery in Germany and the threat level rising to medium for wild birds, the official UK risk level remains low.
Despite the risk being low in the UK, EU Member States have been preparing for cases of bird flu this winter.
Robert Gooch, chief executive of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA), says he understands that the current risk is lower than it was at the same point last year.
"Specialists we have spoken to say that at the moment we are in a better position than we were at this same time last year," said Robert.
"Last year cold weather in Russia and continental Europe brought easterly winds, which brought wild fowl to the UK carrying the virus. This year we have been seeing southerly winds.
"AI is definitely around but it mostly seems to be travelling down the central European flyways at the moment. So the risk to the UK seems to be lower than last year at this time.
"The weather can obviously change. It is still likely that we will see an outbreak this winter but the Defra official risk level just now is low."
Residual virus
Mr Gooch said he had taken note of the wild bird discovery in Germany, and BFREPA members were being advised to ensure their levels of bio-security were maintained.
But he said he did not think the German case - in a mallard at Niedersachsen - changed the position in the United Kingdom.
"We know there is still residual virus in the environment. I don't think this case changes things here just now."
Last winter highly pathogenic H5N8 swept across 18 European countries, including the United Kingdom.
In the UK there were a total of 13 confirmed cases between December and June, although none of them involved commercial layer flocks. Six of the cases in the UK involved backyard flocks, and there were also outbreaks in turkeys and game birds.
Cases of H5N8 were also recorded in Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, the Republic of Korea, Nigeria and Tunisia.
Governments across Europe responded to last winter's outbreaks of H5N8 by ordering birds to be housed to try to prevent the virus spreading.
This brought its own problems because, under European Union law, free range birds can only be housed for a maximum of 12 weeks before they lose their free range status. Eggs from birds locked up for more than 12 weeks have to be sold as barn eggs.
12-week period
Following last winter's outbreaks, egg industry leaders pressed the European Commission to increase the 12-week period to 20.
The EU refused to move to 20, but it has agreed to 16 weeks. This change is currently making its way through the legislative process in Brussels. It is hoped that the amended rule will be in place later this month or in December.
"We will, hopefully be in a better position than last year because of the change," said Robert Gooch. He said he expected the European Commission to sign off on the change to the rules.
"We are 90 per cent down the policy process. It needs rubber-stamping. Hopefully that will happen towards the end of this month.
"It will also be applied to birds when they are housed, which will give us a bit more flexibility," said Mr Gooch, referring to a change in the point from which housed status will be counted. Under the commission amendment, it will now start from when the individual flock is housed.
High and low risk
One issue arousing discontent amongst English producers is last winter's decision by the chief vet to split the country into high and low risk areas.
A UK-wide housing order was put in place in December last year when H5N8 began to spread across Europe. For most parts of the United Kingdom the order was lifted at the end of February to avoid free range eggs being downgraded.
Whilst the order was lifted as one in Scotland and in Wales, in England Defra ruled that, in certain designated high risk areas, layers would have to remain locked up to avoid the risk of infection.
This decision led to anger among many producers in England, with affected farms having their eggs downgraded.
In some cases neighbours found themselves on either side of a housing order boundary line - with one producer's hens forced to be kept in and their eggs sold as barn whilst the other farmer's hens were free to roam and their eggs were sold as free range.
At the annual meeting of BFREPA in October a number of producers insisted that their officers should tell Defra that they would not accept the same policy this year.
Robert Gooch told FarmingUK that BFREPA was continuing to make its opposition known. "We are arguing through the Defra AI Core Group that this is not a sustainable policy," said Robert.
The latest outbreak in the Netherlands involved a flock of 41,500 birds in the Zeeland region. All the birds were culled following confirmation of AI in tests at a laboratory at Wageningen. Restrictions have been put in place around the affected farm.
