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Scotland investigates potential ND case
Scottish government vets are investigating a possible
case of Newcastle disease in East Lothian, although the government says there is
no significant threat to public health from the affected poultry
flock.
The premises involved has been quarantined while laboratory tests are
carried out.
If the flock is confirmed positive, it will be culled and contacts with
other farms will be investigated. Restricted zones could also be established,
with a 1.8-mile protection zone and a six-mile surveillance zone around the
infected premises.
The last known outbreak of Newcastle disease in the UK was in July 2005,
when a large flock of pheasants was culled near Surrey.
Newcastle
disease symptoms in birds include sneezing, gasping for air, nasal
discharge, coughing, and a greenish, watery diarrhoea. It can lead to sudden
death and an increased death loss in a flock. There is no danger to humans
eating meat from a chicken affected by the disease.
In April this year, the potentially fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu was
confirmed in a dead swan found in Fife. It led to a wild bird risk area covering
1,000 square miles being set up in eastern Scotland around the discovery site at
Cellardyke.
Despite reports of large numbers of dead birds after news of the outbreak,
all subsequent tests on carcasses across the country proved negative. The wild
bird risk area was lifted on 1 May.
Editor WorldPoultry
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