# 426
Charges and denials are flowing fast and furious in the UK tonight, and cracks in the veneer of the original story laid forth by Bernard Matthews and government officials are beginning to appear. Exactly who knew what, and when, is a bit hard to determine as yet.
For a week, we've heard that only one shed was affected at the Bernard Mathews farm. Now we know 3 others were, as well. We've also been told that no imports of poultry came from Hungary to be processed in Suffolk, and now that appears in doubt, too.
Two stories, first this from the Daily Mail
Bird flu: Is Bernard Matthews to blame?
By BENEDICT BROGAN and SEAN POULTER -
Last updated at 22:15pm on 8th February 2007
Factory farm giant Bernard Matthews was being investigated Thursday night over claims that lethal bird flu may have been brought into Britain on a lorryload of turkeys imported from Hungary.
Whitehall officials are looking into claims that the firm failed to disclose fully imports of turkey meat from Hungary, where there has recently been an outbreak of bird flu.
A senior official source said: "We are investigating the possibility of a number of serious breaches."
Thursday night all movements between Bernard Matthews operations in Britain and its subsidiary in Hungary were suspended.
And then there's this, from AFP, which indicates as much 38 tonnes of partly-processed turkey were transported between the two plants each week, which contradicts earlier reports that no such transfers occurred.
British H5N1 may be 'identical' to Hungarian: government
LONDON (AFP) - The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu found in turkeys in Britain last week "may well be identical" to the virus found in wild geese in Hungary, British officials said.
According to a government vet, that raises the possibility that the infection of the British turkeys on the farm in Holton, Suffolk, occurred via poultry imported from Hungary.
The agriculture ministry also confirmed that three adjacent poultry houses, all part of the farm run by Bernard Matthews, Europe's biggest turkey producer, were infected with avian flu.
"The government is developing its investigation into what might have caused the outbreak of avian influenza in the Suffolk poultry farm, following preliminary scientific tests showing the viruses in Suffolk and recent outbreaks in Hungary may well be identical," a spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said.
Meanwhile Fred Landeg, the government's deputy chief vet, said that investigations had shown that "one possible route of infection is poultry product imported from Hungary."
For a company the size of BM to have moved large quantities of partially processed meat across international borders, and for the UK government, and others not to be aware of it, is hard to understand.
There's nothing the British press love more than a scandal. And they obviously smell a big one.
This story, as they say, has `legs'.
Stay tuned.
