The cull of pheasants at a farm in Surrey to stop the spread of Newcastle Disease has been completed. The affected premises are now being cleansed and disinfected.

Defra has continued to urge poultry keepers all over the country to stay vigilant following the outbreak at the farm and to alert authorities if their birds show suspicious symptoms.

However, there have been no other confirmed outbreaks of the disease anywhere in the country.

There has been no evidence of the disease spreading from the original infected area or that infected birds have been imported elsewhere in the UK.

Defra moved swiftly once samples taken from pheasants imported for shooting from France proved positive for the disease on the 15th July. An Infected Area around the outbreak was declared, imposing movement restrictions on poultry and poultry products in order to limit any spread of disease. The State Veterinary Service is carrying out surveillance in the area to detect any signs of spread of disease.

The UK contacted the French authorities who immediately began a thorough investigation. There was a rapid exchange of information with the French authorities, who identified a number of farms that had supplied birds to the infected premises. Their investigations suggest that birds on one farm have been exposed to the ND virus. Other EU Member States and the European Commission have been kept informed and have not imposed any further trade restrictions on either the UK or France.

The poultry industry, the NFU, shooting organisations and other stakeholders have been kept closely informed since the disease was confirmed.

Notes:

1. 10,240 birds have been culled at the farm.

2. Further information can be found via: www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/newcastle/newcastled.htm

3. The clinical signs in birds affected with Newcastle Disease can be very variable. The disease can be present in a very acute form with sudden onset and high mortality or as a mild disease with respiratory distress or a drop in egg production as the only detectable clinical signs. A sub-clinical (asymptomatic) form of Newcastle disease and many intermediate forms of the disease can also occur. The clinical signs include depression, lack of appetite, respiratory distress with beak gaping, coughing, sneezing, snicking, gurgling and rattling, yellowish green diarrhoea and nervous signs. In laying flocks a sudden drop in egg production with a high proportion of eggs laid with abnormal (soft) shells is often an early sign of disease. Young birds are particularly susceptible and mortality can be heavy, with survivors often exhibiting permanent nervous signs.

4. The disease is spread by - direct contact with secretions and excretions, especially faeces, from infected birds. Contaminated feed, water, implements, premises, human clothing, etc.

5. Newcastle disease is a highly infectious disease of birds caused by a para-myxo virus. Birds affected by this disease are fowls, turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasants, guinea fowl and other wild and captive birds, including ratites such ostriches, emus and rhea.

6. In Great Britain, isolated cases of this disease were first reported in the 1930s. From 1947 outbreaks occurred here over the next 30 years, and there were further isolated cases in 1984 and 1996-7.

7. Information on outbreak statistics is available on the Defra website. This disease does however remain a problem world-wide. Recent serious outbreaks of Newcastle disease occurred in Denmark in 2002, and in California in 2003."

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