In early December, Livetec were called to a farm in North Yorkshire as an outbreak of avian influenza was suspected on site. Mobilising quickly, the Livetec Operations team arrived on site the next day, where it was confirmed that over 13,000 of the farm’s turkeys had been exposed to high path HPAI H5N8.
By the time Livetec arrived, the farm had already been subject to restrictive measures by APHA, including a limit on movement and a 10km surveillance zone.
Required on site to support the necessary on-farm emergency depopulation, the Livetec Operations team completed the measures over a three-day period. Upon finalising the depopulation, the first of two stages of cleansing and disinfection was implemented, which is an APHA requirement following an outbreak.
Ultimately, following an investigation to identify the cause of the infection, it was established that the biosecurity measures on the farm were well below-par. Following the report, it can be assumed that the farm could have likely mitigated the risks of the outbreak and minimised operational downtime by taking a proactive approach to their operations, supported by a range of Livetec’s technical services, like a bespoke biosecurity strategy.
The report concluded that in addition to several poor biosecurity practises, the most likely cause for infection was contact with wild birds. Wild birds were able to access the sheds due to a lack of building maintenance, which again could have been easily identified using Livetec’s consultancy services.
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