A farmer hit by England's first outbreak of avian flu this season has said the loss of 32,000 egg-laying birds is likely to cost her business more than £100,000. Catherine Armstrong, who has a free-range farm near Belford, Northumberland, told the BBC of the "shock" of her worst fears coming true when she found "a carpet of dead birds" in her barns this week. The outbreak's source is not yet known but the virus is thought to have been brought onto the site, which has strict biosecurity measures, by wild birds.
The farm's remaining poultry were culled. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has put control measures in place to contain the outbreak, external but warned cases were likely to rise. So far, there has been one other case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the UK, external, on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
Armstrong said her birds, which normally produce 28,500 eggs a day, which are then supplied to a range of UK supermarkets, began to die a week ago. "At this age of the flock, you would tend to see the odd death but on the Friday my lady who works in the shed messaged me at night to say that 39 had died," she explained. During the weekend, the virus spread rapidly, with more than 1,000 birds dead by Sunday night.
The APHA was contacted and a vet came out to carry out tests but Armstrong said she knew it would be bird flu: "In my heart of hearts, when you are shovelling dead birds out of a shed, you feel... well, I didn't need the results. I knew what the results would be." By Tuesday, the virus had been confirmed, with thousands of birds dead. Within two days, all the remaining birds had been culled to control the virus' spread.
"All your worst fears, I suppose, are realised then. It is an emotional roller coaster. I mean, for instance, on the Sunday, I just felt numb.
On the Monday, just a bit like 'Why me?'. "On the Tuesday, it's a bit matter of fact. It's like, 'Right, we've got to do this.
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