A small-holding owner in Pembrokeshire has spoken of her devastation following the first case of a bird flu outbreak in Wales in over two years was discovered at her premises. Pembrokeshire County Council officers are conducting visits in response to a ‘bird flu’ incident in the county, following the identification of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in poultry at a site near Roch. A declaration of an Influenza Protection Zone and wider Surveillance Zone surrounding the Infected Premises has been implemented by the Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales. Forty-year-old Angela Frayling-James, who has a poultry small-holding at Roch, near Haverfordwest, said she was devastated to lose all 120 chickens. "On Saturday, everything was fine but on Sunday morning seven hens were dead and they just kept dying," she said. She immediately phoned Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) due to how quickly the chickens were dying; and by the time bird flu was confirmed and officials were sent out to cull the remaining hens, 40 had already died. Ms Frayling-James said her business would remained closed for at least three weeks. Officers from Pembrokeshire County Council’s Public Protection Division will be visiting addresses within the 3km Protection Zone around the site, to identify locations where poultry and/or other captive birds are kept and to provide information on restrictions that currently apply to help prevent the spread of disease. The Council’s officers are working in support of veterinary colleagues from the Animal and Plant Health Agency who are managing the response to the incident. A map showing the extent of the zones and restrictions that apply can be seen on the Welsh Government website: https://www.gov.wales/haverfordwest-pembrokeshire-avian-influenza-protection-and-surveillance-zones-declaration-24-june It is vital keepers of birds remain vigilant and ensure they have the very highest levels of biosecurity in place. Responsibilities of people who keep birds: • All keepers of kept birds should be vigilant for signs of the disease such as increased mortality, respiratory distress and drops in food or water intake, or egg production. • Consult your veterinary surgeon in the first instance if your birds are unwell. • If you or your vet suspect that avian influenza could be causing illness in your birds, you must, by law, report this to the Animal and Plant Health Agency Wales on 0300 303 8268. This will trigger a disease investigation by APHA vets. • You must apply strict biosecurity measures to prevent any materials, equipment, vehicles, clothing, feed or bedding that could have been contaminated from wild birds coming onto your premises. Full details and checklist are available here: biosecurity and preventing disease in captive birds. The UK health agencies advise that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the UK food standards agencies advise that avian influenza poses a very low food safety risk for UK consumers. Members o
00:00The owners of this small holding in Roach in Pembrokeshire reported the deaths of seven of their 120 chickens to the Animal and Plant Health Agency on Sunday.
00:09By Tuesday, 40 had died and the remaining 80 had to be culled, a devastating experience for the couple who reared them.
00:17Watching those 80 chickens being shot is something that will stay with me forever.
00:25They're our pets.
00:27Me, my girls!
00:30I understand that they had to be culled and quite rightfully.
00:35We don't want anybody else to go through what we're going through.
00:38We don't want any chickens to suffer.
00:40It's so eerie out there, like there's no noise.
00:43There's no volunteers, there's no customers, there's no chickens.
00:48Angela says they took every possible precaution to manage the risk of bird flu.
00:51The business will now close for at least three weeks, leaving a financial as well as emotional loss.
00:56Tough measures in place to contain the spread are necessary, says Wales' chief vet.
01:00The measures that we will put in place will be to control disease, but recognising the impact on the people involved.
01:07And the Animal and Plant Health Agency, I'm sure, are working very, very closely with the keepers to explain to them the steps that are taken, why they're taken.
01:20The disease was also found at a commercial game bird premises near Glyn Ceiriog in Wrexham.
01:25A three kilometre protection zone has been set up in this area, Llanarmon Dufferin Ceiriog, with a wider 10 kilometre surveillance zone stretching from Llangollen to Llanreda and Mochnant, where bird keepers must follow strict safety protocols.
01:38Residents fear the closure of the business will have a knock-on effect in this small community.
01:43We've had it before, but I think this is really a bad case of it, because we've never had shoots cancelled because of it.
01:52Not to my knowledge, anyway.
01:55So, it's quite devastating, really, because it's a big business here.
02:02You know, people rely on it.
02:04You know, workers rely on it.
02:06The Royal Wales show will be impacted too.
02:09Last summer, poultry exhibitors were allowed back for the first time in years, but following cases in England, an avian flu prevention zone was declared across Wales in January, and poultry gatherings are also banned again.
02:21You know, for farmers, poultry farmers in particular, and poultry keepers in particular, it is a really, really worrying time.
02:29Because, as I say, it spreads very quickly.
02:31It's highly contagious, it's gone very quickly from one another to another.
02:34It is a notifiable disease, so once the disease is identified by the blood test, then the animals then have to be humanly put down.
02:47The chances of avian flu passing to humans are rare, but even those left to pick up the pieces after losing livestock understand the importance of keeping the disease contained.
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