Defra in all have ordered the culling of almost 30,000 turkeys

Some good news regarding the bird flu problem in the United Kingdom is that turkeys which were culled at two farms very near to the original outbreak as a precaution were found to have tested negative for the H5N1 bird flu virus. Originally Defra felt that as these two farms were so close to where the original case was located there was a high chance of contamination especially as some of the workers from the infected farm had been also working in these farms.

Defra in all have ordered the culling of almost 30,000 turkeys from all the farms in the area and it is thought that only very few of these actual birds would have been infected with the virus, nevertheless in order to make sure that the virus did not spread further a field it was necessary to be ruthless in destroying thousand of birds. There is a huge financial implication as well as a health implication with the bird flu virus. It is estimated that this recent outbreak of bird flu has cost the government millions of pounds already and should it spread to more farms in the United Kingdom the cost to the farmers involved could be astronomical.

The Food Standard Agency in a bid to calm fears that all poultry was unsafe to eat have issued a statement saying that there are absolutely no safety implications regarding the human food chain from the H5N1 bird flu virus. They said that provided that all poultry is cooked properly there is no chance whatsoever of getting the virus. It has been shown that the virus cannot be contracted by eating contaminated food but by being in close contact with live infected birds.

It is sensible practice anyway to make sure that poultry is cooked properly and the Food Standard Authority said that people should not worry about eating turkey at Christmas time.