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Earlier reports have indicated that there is limited water and electricity available at the UK farm where avian flu has been detected, making the culling operation more difficult than it was at the Bernard Mathews facility earlier this year.
Now there are concerns that lax bio-security measures may have allowed contamination to spread to at least two other farms.
Apparently warnings given earlier this year by the UK government failed to arouse sufficient caution in the local poultry industry.
Poor hygiene may mean killer virus has spread to other farms
Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor
An investigation into possible lax bio-security at the farm at the centre of the current avian flu outbreak is being conducted by government veterinary experts, amid fears that the H5N1 virus has already spread to two nearby farms within the 1.9mile (3km) protection zone.
Industry sources said last night that workers at the organic Redgrave Park Farm, near Diss, Norfolk, at centre of the alert, had also spent some time at these premises. It is being suggested that the routine cleansing and disinfecting between holdings was not a priority and facilities were basic.
There is now concern that 45,000 free-range geese may be infected. An immediate cull will be ordered if there is any evidence there have been “dangerous contacts” between flocks and farms, Fred Landeg, the acting Chief Veterinary Officer, said yesterday.
There was disbelief in the poultry industry and among ornithologists that, despite Government warnings of the high risk of avian flu transmission during the spring and autumn migration periods, the free-range birds were not kept away from wild birds at an ornamental lake on the farm.
