AVIAN INFLUENZA HITS THE UK; CURRENTLY NO PUBLIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 000455 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (AGRI ADDRESS REMOVED) SIPDIS STATE FOR A/MED, OES/IHA, EUR/UBI, AND G/AIAG - LANGE HHS FOR STEIGER PASS TO DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2012 TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAGR CACS AMED UK SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA HITS THE UK; CURRENTLY NO PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN REF: 06 LONDON 008214 Classified By: EST Counselor William R. Meara for reason 1.4 (b). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: HMG officials confirmed on February 3 that the highly pathogenic Asian strain of H5N1 avian influenza killed turkeys on a factory farm. Restrictive zones have been put in place to limit poultry movement and to prevent the spread of the outbreak. No human illness has been reported; however, as a precaution, Tamiflu is being administered to farm workers and those handling the culled poultry. Post's Pandemic Influenza Working Group is monitoring the situation. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) On February 1, UK officials were called to a factory farm run by one of Britain's largest poultry producers in Holton, Suffolk. Preliminary tests on February 2 indicated the turkeys were killed by the H5 strain of avian flu. The UK Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) immediately implemented restrictions to stop the movement of birds to or from the site. The State Veterinary Service is enforcing a Protection Zone of three kilometers (1.8 miles) radius and a Surveillance Zone of 10 kilometers around the farm; within these zones movement restrictions are imposed and poultry must be isolated from wild birds. Later on February 3, DEFRA established a wider Restricted Zone to approximately 2090 square kilometers in which poultry must be kept isolated from wild birds. ¶3. (U) On February 3 DEFRA confirmed the dead bird contained H5N1 avian influenza, and further tests revealed that the sampled poultry contained the highly pathogenic Asian strain. The virus in Britain is similar to the virus that was found in Hungary in January. This is the first time the H5N1 strain has been found at a poultry farm in Britain. It is estimated that nearly 160,000 birds will be culled to prevent further spread of the virus. ¶4. (C) Health Protection Agency (HPA),Director for Emergency Response, Dr. Nigel Lightfoot, told ESTOff that the origin of the outbreak remains unknown; however, DEFRA's assumption is that the cause was a wild bird. Lightfoot confirmed that there has been no illness in humans. Farm workers and those working with the culled birds are being administered Tamiflu as a precaution. Lightfoot told ESTOff that the risk to the public is "negligible," and the risk to farm workers is "very low." ¶5. (U) Many of the farm workers are Portuguese; no Amcits are known to work on the farm. ¶6. (U) EMBASSY ACTION: Post's Pandemic Influenza Working Group is monitoring the situation. ESTOff is in contact with DEFRA, HPA and the Department of Health. Post does not plan to issue a warden message at this time. We will reiterate our relevant standard guidance in our Amcit newsletter next week. A Management Notice will be released to Embassy staff summarizing the current situation and reminding people about precautions. ¶7. (C) COMMENT: This event is chiefly of veterinary interest, and nothing really has changed with regards to pandemic influenza. Last week HMG carried out a pandemic influenza exercise (Winter Willow) (reftel); we hope this leaves them better prepared to deal with any possible outbreak of human pandemic influenza. We also will watch the potential economic consequences of the outbreak, given the likelihood of nations suspending imports of UK poultry. END COMMENT Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm Tuttle