More than seven million captive birds have died of bird flu or been culled for disease control since an outbreak started in October 2021, the Government said. Labour said the figures show the equivalent of 17,000 birds died or were culled every day and claimed the Government has "failed to grip this crisis".
There have been 279 cases of H5N1, avian influenza, in England since the outbreak started in October 2021, according to figures released this week by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Farming minister Mark Spencer told MPs: "To prevent further spread of avian influenza, birds on an infected premises are humanely culled.
“During the current highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak (October 26 2021 to January 10 2023) 7.48 million birds have died or been culled for avian influenza disease control purposes, including 4.59 million chickens, 1.79 million turkeys, 980,000 ducks, 48,000 geese, 31,000 quail, 35,000 gamebirds and 7,000 other captive birds.”
