Family speaks of 'devastating' bird flu outbreak at farm
A family farm has spoken of the "devastating" news after bird flu was confirmed at their Wem site leading them to have to cull more than a million chickens.
Griffiths Family Farms, part of Oaklands Farm Eggs near Wem in Shropshire has found cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or H5N1.
A statement from Defra on Monday evening confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the disease at the site.
A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone were instantly declared around the premises.
The British Free-Range Egg Association (BFREPA) said the site processes around half of the UK’s barn egg production.
It is reported that more than a million chickens are to be culled at the farm, following the outbreak.
Elwyn Griffiths said in a statement on behalf of the family: “This is obviously devastating news for the business and the Griffiths family personally. We will now work as quickly as possible to ensure the welfare of hens on the rest of the site and also to ensure the wellbeing of farm staff who are caring for the hens on the ground.
“We are now in the hands of government officials at APHA who will outline the next steps which we will be required to take”.
The government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said: “All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled. A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been declared around the premises. Although the premises is in England, part of the surveillance zone extends into the Wrexham local authority area of Wales”.
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