Sleaford farm avian flu outbreak means birds will be culled

Poultry will be culled at a Sleaford farm after bird flu was confirmed there on Wednesday morning.

Restrictions have been brought in to stop the spread of the disease.

A 3km protection zone has been created around the Ancaster premises, which stops the movement of birds in or out.

There is also a 10km surveillance zone, where premises with birds are required to keep strict records.

A government notice was issued today, confirming the first Lincolnshire case in several months.

“Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in commercial housed poultry on 12 October at a premises near near Sleaford, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire,” the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says.

“A 3km Protection Zone and 10km Surveillance Zone were declared around the premises. All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled.”

The government have launched protection zones around the outbreak | Photo: Gov.uk

Lincolnshire County Council’s Trading Standards teams will be carrying out foot patrols in the area.

The announcement comes on the same day as bird keepers in Norfolk, which borders southern Lincolnshire, were ordered to keep all birds indoors after numerous outbreaks.

Over a million birds were culled during Lincolnshire’s bird flu epidemic last winter.

Mark Keal, Lincolnshire Trading Standards Manager, said: “Although it’s not entirely unexpected that we would eventually have cases in the county, if you keep birds, we urge you to maintain good biosecurity measures, to limit the spread of avian flu as much as possible.

Thousands of chickens were culled after a bird flu outbreak in Lincolnshire. | Photo: Open Cages

“We are also asking the public to be particularly vigilant about wild birds which may be infected by the disease.

“If you see dead wild birds, do not touch them, and report them to the Animal and Plant Health Agency Avian flu primarily affects birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low, but reports from the public can help track the spread of the disease and prevent it infecting poultry and other captive birds.”

You can report dead birds to APHA on 03459 33 55 77. Biosecurity advice from APHA is available on our Lincolnshire Trading Standards Facebook and Twitter pages, or you can visit GOV.UK/APHA.