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Oxfordshire chickens test positive for bird flu

03/06/2008

Chickens on an Oxfordshire farm have tested positive for bird flu, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed.

All birds on the premises near Banbury are to be slaughtered as a precautionary measure after the H7 strain of the disease was discovered.

Defra officials said testing would continue at the farm to establish whether the strain discovered was of high or low pathogenicity.

A temporary control zone with a 3km (1.8-mile) inner radius and a 10km (6.2-mile) outer radius is being established around the infected premises.

Nigel Gibbens, the chief veterinary officer, said: "I would stress the need for poultry keepers to be extremely vigilant, practice the highest levels of biosecurity and report any suspicions of disease to their local Animal Health Office immediately."

The Health Protection Agency has advised that it is important to remember that the H7 strain of avian flu is largely a disease of birds and does not transmit easily to humans.

And Dr Judith Hilton, Food Standards Agency (FSA) head of microbiological safety said the new cases "poses no safety implications for the human food chain".

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

"The science shows that the virus isn't contracted by eating food – but usually by close contact with infected birds."