When I wrote on Monday 5th ( Wild birds not to blame ) about the Lorries from Hungary, mainstream media were still reporting the sparrow through the ventilation shaft story, and the Bernard Mathews offcial line seemed to be that the outbreak of H5N1 in Hungary was not connected in any way. “All our birds are British,” he said. “The fact that we have a Hungarian operation is immaterial”

Now the truth is beginning to emerge .

Bernard Matthews, Britain’s largest turkey producer, imports 37 tonnes of partly-processed turkey meat from Hungary every week

And now the Telegraph reports

Supermarkets are facing a possible nationwide recall of processed turkey products in an attempt to halt the spread of bird flu.

What are processed turkey products?

From Is Bernard Matthews stuffed?

He invented the “self-basting” Golden Norfolk Turkey, to address the bird’s tendency to produce dried-out meat. And he followed that over the next two decades with products rejoicing in names such as Turkey Breast Roast, Turkey Fillets, Crispy Crumb Turkey Steaks, Golden Drummers, Mini Kievs and – dubious though middle-class parents may have found it – the UK’s first shaped poultry product for children, Turkey Dinosaurs.

….Turkey Twizzlers – became the object of the chef Jamie Oliver‘s scorn. He singled them out for criticism in his campaign to improve the nation’s school dinners in his television series Jamie’s School Dinners. The product, in which processed turkey was combined with pork fat, contained – Oliver complained – outrageously unhealthy levels of saturated fat. The firm dropped the product, a move that coincided with a £13m drop in operating profits.

Bernard Matthews is the No 1 brand of cooked meats in the UK – one pack of its Wafer Thin Turkey Ham is sold every second, perhaps as a low calorie or cheap alternative to real ham.

What is turkey ham made from? Well it turns out that is does contain some turkey, but no pork meat. There is a cow product though, about one third water, and far too much salt. Ingredients:

“turkey (60%), water, salt, stabilisers, potato & rice starch, milk protein, dextrose, whey protein, flavouring, antioxidant, acidity regulator, flavouring, preservative, yeast extract, garlic” So that’s what turkey ham is made from.

Here we go again – just like with BSE (mad cow disease) in the 90s and the more recent foot and mouth outbreak, some countries can’t wait to jump at the opportunity to start erecting non-tariff trade barriers.

Russia, Japan ban British poultry over bird flu – washingtonpost.com
Russians officials said Moscow would ban British poultry imports from Tuesday to prevent the spread of bird flu. Japan also banned British poultry imports while Ireland barred the import of poultry from Britain for “gatherings and shows.”

I blogged the news this morning about the bird flu in Suffolk but now the story has become altogether much more serious.

The Guardian reports that the results of further tests are out and it has been comfirmed that the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found among turkeys in a Bernard Matthews poultry farm in Suffolk.

Bernard Mathews is Europe’s largest turkey factory.

All 159,000 turkeys on the affected poultry farm will be slaughtered as a precaution and they are hopeful the outbreak will be contained.

The news release from DEFRA is also online now:

Tests from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) have confirmed that the sample from the poultry found dead on a farm near Lowestoft in Suffolk did contain the H5N1 avian flu virus. Further tests are underway to determine whether the strain of the virus is similar to that found in Asia. Results are expected later today.

Fred Landeg, the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer said:

“I urge keepers of birds to be vigilant, to take care if handling birds which appear to be unwell and to observe high levels of biosecurity. Owners that suspect disease, should act quickly consult their vet. Avian influenza is a notifiable disease and must be reported to the local Divisional Veterinary Manager in the State Veterinary Service”

There is no reason for public health concern. Avian Influenza is a disease of birds and whilst it can pass very rarely and with difficulty, to humans this requires extremely close contact with infected birds, particularly faeces

To find out more about H5N1 and avian influenza, there is the bird flu wiki and also the Avian Flu Watch group on Flickr.

For a wryly written but perceptive piece there’s also Bird flu: we’re all going to die at The Register.

Bird Flu has been confirmed to have hit the enormous Norfolk Turkey industry with thousands of birds due to be slaughtered.

East Anglian Daily Times (EADT) reports:

EADT – Suffolk farm hit by bird flu outbreak

GOVERNMENT officials last night confirmed an outbreak of bird flu on a Suffolk poultry farm after hundreds of turkeys died.

So what will this mean in terms of restrictions on movement, isolation and containment policy?

Yesterday afternoon the plant was working as normal, with no exclusion zone visible from the outside, and with bus-loads of workers ferried from around Norfolk and Waveney converging on the former airfield site to start shifts.

Which strain of Bird Flu is it?

BBC Radio news reported this morning that the strain was yet to be confirmed but Newswire NZ is saying that it’s a type of H5.

Bird Flu Found At UK Turkey Farm

It is the second time in less than 12 months that a poultry farm in the East Anglia area has been hit by bird flu. More than 30,000 birds were slaughtered after chickens near Dereham in Norfolk tested positive for the H7 strain of the virus in April last year.

Microbiologist Hugh Pennington said further tests would determine how closely the H5 strain found at the farm related to the H5N1 strain that has killed more than 160 people around the world since 2003.

Farmers Weekly published an updated Avian Flu special report just a few days ago containing Essential information for farmers on Avian Flu

Watch the Farmers Weekly Interactive tag cloud to see when “birdflu” or “avian” appears.

DEFRA (the government) publishes advice for UK farmers

Defra, UK – Disease surveillance and control – Notifiable diseases – Avian Influenza
Avian influenza is a highly infectious notifiable disease affecting many species of birds, including commercial, wild and pet birds.

and releases the latest news:

Defra, UK – News releases 2007: Avian influenza test result on poultry

These preliminary results show that it is the H5 strain of the virus but further confirmatory tests are in progress to identify the strain more fully, and more will be known tomorrow. The affected premises were put under restriction on Thursday (1st February) evening and the appropriate contingency plan has been put into effect.

When the additional laboratory results are known further action will be taken and all available information will be provided.

Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

All avian influenzas (H1 to H16) can be low pathogenic but only H5 and H7 are known to become highly pathogenic.

The particular strain which has been known to affect humans is H5N1 so we await the further tests with some urgency and in the hope that this is not it.

Map of countries with confirmed human case of H5N1 in 2006

See also the latest map from DARnet » The World is a dangerous place

Bernard Mathews tag on Flickr

Blog search Bird flu