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Bird flu may spread ‘further and faster’ if staff working to contain outbreaks vote to strike

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A strike by workers at the Government body tackling the UK’s largest ever outbreak of bird flu could have a “huge impact” on efforts to contain its spread, a leading expert believes.

Industrial action by staff at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) could see the highly infectious disease spread faster and further, according to Prof Munir Iqbal, head of the Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) group at The Pirbright Institute, which specialises in animal welfare.

An indicative ballot for strike action over pay, staffing and redundancy across the union Prospect’s civil service branches closed on Monday, with the union set to make an announcement later this week over running formal ballots ahead of possible industrial action next year.

APHA members of Prospect balloted to assess support for strike action include scientists, vets and animal inspectors involved in the UK’s response to bird flu.

Around four million birds, including chickens, ducks and turkeys, have been culled in the UK as the H5N1 strain of the disease spreads, with more than 100 million birds culled worldwide.

More on Bird flu

Prof Iqbal, a visiting professor at the Royal Veterinary College, told i: “The APHA has staff at local levels in different parts of the country. If they are not available, then of course, nobody can take the samples. And, of course, the laboratory cannot analyse the samples.

“And if the laboratory people are on strike, they are unable to analyse the sample.

“It is a very speedy process from suspicion to confirmation. It should be within 24 hours I would say. It has to be very quick.”

If bird flu is suspected, a 3km restriction zone and a 10km surveillance zone may be put in place, which requires a “huge operation”, he added.

“[This] takes a lot of people, time and resources and if people are not there, then of course, it will affect the control system set up by the Government,” he said.

“The disease should not spread from one farm to another. That is the main criteria of why we need so speedy detection information and then the procedure for control.

Bird flu is an infectious disease of poultry and wild birds that has been around for a century and usually flares up in autumn before fading away (Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

“If this is not being done, then of course, the neighbouring farm will also be affected and of course the disease goes on and on to other farms so a larger area may be affected rather than a single farm.”

He added: “These people are working to control and contain the virus. This is the top priority. And if the people are not working of course, it [bird flu] has a free hand.”

A further escalation of the spread of the disease could see the “whole country” affected, he said.

The APHA, which is part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has a laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey, where crucial research into major animal diseases such as BSE, Foot and Mouth disease and bird flu is carried out.

This year’s outbreak of bird flu has led to fears of shortages of Christmas poultry in the UK, with around 600,000 free-range birds culled or dying as a result of the disease, from a total of 1.2 million to 1.3 million birds produced specifically for December, Richard Griffiths, chief executive officer of the British Poultry Council, told a parliamentary committee hearing this week.

Outbreaks of bird flu have been detected across England and in Scotland and are worst in parts of East Anglia, Chelmsford, Essex, and in Lancashire, according to the APHA’s interactive avian influenza disease map.

More from Health

It comes as Government scientists are on standby to produce modelling for a potential human outbreak of bird flu as concerns over the risks of another pandemic continue among health officials.

i reported this week how scientists from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) are “standing ready” to produce forecasts on the impact of bird flu on humans in case the virus mutates to become easily transmissible to humans.

Some supermarkets have started to ration customers’ purchase of eggs after supplies were disrupted by avian flu.

Last month, around 100,000 civil servants voted to strike in the PCS union’s national ballot.

An Animal and Plant Health Agency spokesperson said: “We don’t currently have notice of strike action within the Animal Plant Health Agency.

“However, we do know that PCS has voted in support of strike action and we have, therefore, put plans in place to ensure that we minimise any impact to business-critical work.”

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