Birds: Wales

(asked on 6th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the health of birds in Wales following the discovery of bird flu in Northern Ireland.


Answered by
Simon Hart Portrait
Simon Hart
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
This question was answered on 14th December 2021

This is a devolved matter, however, the UK Government works with the devolved administrations to seek a coordinated response wherever possible to control disease. In November, the Chief Veterinary Officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland worked together to bring in an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) across Great Britain on 3 November 2021, and in Northern Ireland on 17 November 2021, with additional housing measures coming into force across the UK on 29 November 2021. These measures were introduced to protect poultry and captive birds from avian influenza following a number of confirmed cases across Great Britain and means it a legal requirement for all bird keepers across the UK (whether they have pet birds, commercial flocks or just a few birds in a backyard flock) to keep their birds indoors and follow strict biosecurity measures to limit the spread of avian influenza.

All four administrations are an integral part of the UK-wide decision-making processes. All attend the Defra Group’s National Disease Control Centre meetings, are members of the Animal Disease Policy Group (ADPG) and participate in daily stocktakes to review on-going disease control strategy. Decisions on disease control measures, made through these groups, are based on risk assessments containing the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice.

The risk of incursion of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 in wild birds is currently assessed as very high for England and high for Wales and Scotland for wild birds. The risk of poultry exposure to HPAI H5 across Great Britain is currently assessed as medium where good biosecurity is applied at poultry premises, but high where there are substantial biosecurity breaches and poor biosecurity. If, however, stringent biosecurity is in place at poultry premises the risk would be low for these premises.

All bird keepers are encouraged to maintain high standards of biosecurity as good practice for the health of their birds, and that good biosecurity is an essential defence against diseases such as avian influenza and is key to limiting the spread of avian influenza in any potential outbreak.

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