Bird flu vaccine trials 'momentous' for farmers

A poultry producer that has lost hundreds of thousands of chickens and turkeys to bird flu is leading the way as trials begin for a new vaccine.

More than 1,000 turkeys will be used at three sites across East Anglia as part of a 24-week trial to see how receptive they are to a vaccine.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said annual bird flu outbreaks cost the UK government and industry up to £174m each year.

Mark Gorton, founder of Traditional Norfolk Poultry, which is leading the trial, said: "This is probably one of the biggest days in my poultry life and I think this is one step for poultry but one giant step for poultry kind."

Defra said the scale of avian influenza outbreaks in the UK and Europe had been "unprecedented" in recent years.

Since 1 October, there have been 76 confirmed cases of bird flu in England, a third (34%) of which have been in the East of England including 14 in Norfolk and 10 in Suffolk.

Gorton said the trials were a "momentous" day for the industry.

He said: "Arguably this has been too long coming but we are here now and it's fantastic we are doing this and this is really the start of what will hopefully be the end of this devastating disease."

The turkeys will be vaccinated at one day old and again a few weeks later and will be kept under surveillance.

While bird flu is worse in the winter, Gorton said it was "not going away" and was a disease the industry faces all year round.

The turkeys included in the trial could enter the food chain if they meet the quality requirements.

Gorton said birds were vaccinated to "stop them from getting ill, to prevent the need to medicate them".

He said: "Turkeys have been chosen because they are very susceptible to disease and they are high value.

"Some of our birds ready for the Christmas market could be £100 to £150 each, so it could be a huge economic cost to us if we catch this disease and we have to have all of our birds culled.

"Just imagine the stress and the mental health it puts on farmers like myself and our colleagues in the industry when we catch this terrible disease because there's nothing you can do about it.

"You can't treat the birds and let them get better, this is unfortunately a one-way ticket and it is absolutely devastating for everybody."

Bird flu primarily affects birds but can occasionally spread to other animals including foxes, seals and otters.

Defra said the risk to the public was very low.

Christine Middlemiss, UK chief veterinary officer, said: "This targeted trial is going to be really key for our understanding of how HPAI vaccines can be effectively used for disease control in the UK.

"They have the potential to be a really valuable additional tool in helping us protect birds from infection.

"Stringent biosecurity will always remain our best defence and urge all birdkeepers to continue to take the steps needed to prevent avian influenza spreading on to our premises."

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