Poultry farmers in bird flu ‘panic’ call for UK vaccination plan

Poultry farmers appeal to the government to allow them to vaccinate their herds against the “devastating” bird influenza virus that spreads throughout the United Kingdom.

Poultry vaccination against influenza birds is not permitted in the United Kingdom. The government says strong biological security measures and their execution are the most effective way to fight them. At the same time, there are fears that poultry vaccines may be associated with the virus that develops.

The total levels of the virus have not reached the peak of recent years.

But one of the farmers, who previously lost 30 % of his herd due to bird flu, told BBC that, without vaccine, it was just a matter of time before everything was launched again. “

The area of ​​bird flu prevention that imposes explicit criteria about domesticated birds in England, Wales and Scotland has been announced amid an increasing number of fluid -causing flu.

Human risk is still low, while eating chicken and eggs to eat if cooking them properly, according to the Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Defra has created an intersecting government for the government and poultry looking for the potential use of vaccines, due to the publication of its report later this year. But poultry farmers say that things are moving very slowly.

Turkey’s Sex farms, Paul Kelly, whose work was highly exposed to the worst outbreak of bird flu from 2021 to 2023, told the BBC that “the foot was removed from the gas” when it comes to allowing poultry vaccines to farmers in the United Kingdom.

“This is a weak planning because we need to be ready for a huge outbreak instead of responding to another outbreak and its presence behind the vaccination curve,” he said.

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There has been 25 outbreaks on the farm of bird flu since the annual winter registration season began in October.

Compared, between October 2021 and January 2022, during the worst outbreak in the United Kingdom, there were more than 70 cases of poultry or other captive birds.

But Gary Ford, of the British Free Egg Producers Association, said that there is still “panic, anxiety and fear” among farmers on the spread of the virus.

He added that the organization was a “huge supporter” of poultry vaccination, but it realized that there were challenges, including the cost of farmers and the influence of trade with other countries that prohibit imports from producers who vaccinated.

Meanwhile, there are also some scientific concerns about bird influenza vaccines.

The last work By researchers from the Royal Veterinary College of the United Kingdom and institutions in China have found possible evidence that it may be associated with changes in how the virus evolves.

They made a genetic analysis of the bird influenza samples collected from wild birds and poultry that were cultivated between 1996 and 2023.

While they found that infections often occurred in unjust birds, they also found that in countries with high vaccination rates, there was a higher change rate in the virus itself.

They said that such a development, in theory, leads to frequent update vaccines to remain effective and to the virus that turns into non -fortified groups. They admitted that more research is needed to determine whether there is a direct cause of vaccination and the development of the virus.

Earlier this week, the government agency that deals with infectious diseases, Ukhsa, A state of H5N1 influenza virus confirmed in a farm worker in the West Midlands region.

She said that the transfer of influenza from birds to humans was rare and that the danger to the broader audience was still very low.

Farmers in Sheropchire, North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Kingston city on Hull, Lincolnchy, Norfolk and Sofolk must keep their birds reserved on the mandatory housing bases established for deployment.

Biomedia restrictions are also located throughout England, Wales and Scotland as part of the bird influenza prevention.

The National Farmers Union said it was “necessary for fraud to” prepare “efforts” when reaching an applicable bird flu vaccination plan.

The government currently only allows licensed zoos to vaccinate captive birds against HPAI.

She said that she will continue to invest in research and that any future decisions regarding the use of emergency or preventive vaccination depend on the latest scientific evidence and veterinary advice.