The information is as follows:
Type of Avian Influenza/location Animals culled May 2006 Low pathogenic H7N3 in chickens in Dereham, Norfolk 49,386 February 2007 H5N1 (highly pathogenic) in turkeys at Bernard Matthews plant in Suffolk 156,786 May/June 2007 Low pathogenic H7N2 in Wales and Merseyside 67 November 2007 H5N1 (highly pathogenic) on two premises near Diss, Norfolk 90,650 January/February 2008 H5N1 (highly pathogenic) confirmed in 11 wild birds in the Chesil Beach area in Dorset 10 June 2008 H7N7 (highly pathogenic) avian influenza confirmed on a premises near Banbury in Oxfordshire 24,895 1 Cases were in wild not domestic birds.
(b) Bluetongue
Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) is the only strain of Bluetongue virus to have been detected in the UK to date. The first case was detected on 22 September 2007.
As at 16 October 2008, a total of 147 cases of BTV-8 had been detected. These are shown in the following table, by UK region, for the last three years:
2006 2007 2008 England — 66 180 Northern Ireland — — — Scotland — — — Wales — — 21 1 No circulating Bluetongue disease has been found in the UK in 2008. The 80 cases confirmed this year in England comprise 73 that involve animals infected in 2007 but confirmed as infected in 2008, and seven that were detected through post-import tests on livestock imported from abroad. 2 This case was detected as a result of post-import testing.
A total of six infected animals were culled in England in 2007 prior to 28 September 2007.
On 28 September 2007, it was confirmed that BTV-8 was circulating in the local midge population in the affected area of East Anglia. Since Bluetongue is spread by midges, the culling of animals infected by Bluetongue would no longer have been an effective measure to control disease spread, and in line with the Bluetongue Control Strategy, the decision was taken not to slaughter further infected animals.