Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on tackling cases of avian influenza in Yorkshire.

One case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N5 has been confirmed in the Yorkshire area this season. This case follows recent detections of the HPAI H5N5 in wild birds in the region and is the first case confirmed since declaration of Great Britain’s zonal freedom from HPAI in March 2024.

The case was confirmed in commercial poultry at a premises near Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire on the 5 November 2024. To prevent further disease spread, all poultry on the infected premises have been humanely culled and preliminary cleansing and disinfection has been carried out at the premises by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been put in place surrounding the premises. Protection zones must stay in force for a minimum of 21 days and surveillance zones for a minimum of 30 days. The zones will only be lifted once all disease control activities and surveillance in the zones have been successfully completed and there are no suspect cases in the zones under investigation. Defra continue to monitor the situation and the need for an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) will be considered in response to further increases in risk.