the virus in this case is not the deadly H5N1 flu virus

A bird flu outbreak in a farm in East Anglia has dealt another blow to the business of Bernard Matthews who are one of the nation’s largest producers of turkeys. Bernard Matthews two years previously suffered from another outbreak of a version of bird flu which involved 160,000 birds having to be culled.

In this case government veterinary experts were called in and the good news is that it has been confirmed that the virus in this case is not the deadly H5N1 flu virus but another less dangerous variant of it. In line with correct practice 20,000 turkeys were put into quarantine to stop the virus spreading further. The flu virus was first suspected after a big drop in the number of eggs being laid by the turkeys.

Because the flu virus in this case is not dangerous to humans and not deadly to the birds it is extremely unlikely that they will have to be culled however at this point in time nothing can be certain. The Health Protection Agency has also decided that the staff who worked on the farms will not need to be treated with the Tamiflu influenza drug which is the only drug known to be able to beat the effects of the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Usually in an outbreak of H5N1 influenza among birds anyone who has been in contact with them is given Tamiflu. Very strict rules are always put into place when any bird flu outbreak starts so that the disease does not spread further. It is however difficult to control the spread of the bird flu virus among wild birds which cannot be quarantined.

Governments all around the world have been stockpiling the Tamiflu drug after recommendations by the World Health Organisation.