Farmers have issued a warning that a traditional turkey Christmas dinner could be off the cards this year if the current bird flu outbreak in the UK continues to spread. The ongoing bird flu epidemic is the worst case to date in UK history and over three million turkeys have been slaughtered in an attempt to tackle further spread of the disease which is likely to result in a shortage of turkeys for the festive period.
Special protection zones have been established in Suffolk, Norfolk, parts of Essex and the whole of the South West of England specifically to preserve healthy livestock. The government has stated that the risk from bird flu at this stage is medium, the Mirror reports.
A statement published on gov.uk reads: “The risk of incursion of highly pathogenic (HPAI) avian influenza H5 in wild birds in Great Britain remains at medium (that is, event occurs regularly). The risk to poultry with stringent biosecurity is maintained at low (with low uncertainty).
