I WROTE wrote a letter nearly 18 months ago.

What I said then about the possibility of bird flu migrating to humans has now actually happened.

A case of H5N1 avian flu has been found in a poultry keeper in Devon.

It has not made the person sick and this particular strain does not spread easily from bird to human or human to human.

What we should be worrying about, is that a "hotter" strain of bird flu such as the one that affected South Asia three to four years ago, finds its way into our domestic bird population.

RELEVANT NEWS:

The experience that those countries gained from that outbreak which did make humans very sick, is a reason why those same countries were so much better prepared to deal with Covid-19 when it arrived.

We need to wake up to the fact that any domestic poultry kept on free range is in danger of contracting avian influenza any time that migratory wild fowl arrive in this country.

It will not always be just H5N1.

Free range poultry units should be sited well away from those in controlled environment - especially the farms which produce hatching eggs.

Andrew GIlliat
Breinton

  • Do you share this fear over bird flu? Have your say HERE