2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 Outbreak
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The 2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 outbreak was an occurrence of avian influenza in England caused by the
H5N1 Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (A/H5N1) is a subtype of the influenza A virus, which causes the disease avian influenza (often referred to as "bird flu"). It is enzootic (maintained in the population) in many bird populations, and also panzoo ...
subtype of Influenza virus A that began on 30 January 2007. The infection affected poultry at one of Bernard Matthews' farms in Holton in
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
. It was the third instance of H5N1-subtype detected in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and a range of precautions were instituted to prevent spread of the disease including a large cull of
turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
s, the imposition of segregation zones, and a disinfection programme for the plant. The cause of the outbreak was not determined. However, it was considered significant that Bernard Matthews regularly transports turkeys and turkey products between the UK and its plant in
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, and that the H5N1 strains previously found in Hungary, and those found at Suffolk, were effectively genetically identical.


Background


H5N1

H5N1 is a subtype of the
Influenza A virus ''Influenza A virus'' (''Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae'') or IAV is the only species of the genus ''Alphainfluenzavirus'' of the virus family '' Orthomyxoviridae''. It is a pathogen with strains that infect birds and some mammals, as well as c ...
, the viruses responsible for
influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...
in humans and many other animal species. A bird-adapted strain of H5N1, called ''HPAI A(H5N1)'' for "highly
pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...
ic avian influenza virus of type A of subtype H5N1", is the causative agent of H5N1 flu. HPAI A(H5N1) is considered an avian disease, although there is some evidence of limited human-to-human transmission of the virus. A risk factor for contracting the virus is handling of infected poultry, but transmission of the virus from infected birds to humans is inefficient. Poultry farming practices have changed due to H5N1. The cost of poultry farming has increased, while the cost to consumers has gone down, due to fears from H5N1 driving demand below supply.


Recent outbreaks in the UK and rest of EU

The outbreak was the third instance of H5N1 detected in the United Kingdom. The first outbreak occurred in October 2005 among exotic birds imported from Taiwan and South America at a privately owned quarantine facility in Essex, England. The second instance involved a dead
whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genu ...
found to have the virus in Cellardyke, Scotland in April 2006. A corresponding incidence on a farm in south-eastern Hungary was confirmed by the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
on 25 January 2007.


The outbreak

Initial signs of the outbreak occurred on Tuesday, 30 January when 55 turkey poults died and 16 had to be killed because they were sick. At least 185 more died the following day. It was not until 1 February that the deaths were reported to Defra. The farm was sealed off while tests were carried out, on samples taken from the dead birds, at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in
Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
. Another 1,500 birds died on 2 February. Then on 3 February 2007 the H5N1 causation was confirmed. A 3 km protection zone, 10 km surveillance zone and a restricted zone encompassing 2000 km2 were set up. Another 159,000 turkeys were slaughtered with the
cull Culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific trait. This is done to exagge ...
being completed on the evening of 5 February. Also on 5 February there was criticism that nearby farmers had not been advised as to the action to be taken. Around 320 workers at the plant were given anti-viral drugs. Although a vet from the site was admitted into hospital, suffering from a 'mild respiratory illness' during the evening of 6 February, it was found not to be bird flu. The plant was thoroughly disinfected, with cleaning complete on 12 February, and permission being given for production to resume. It emerged in a highly critical report from Defra that there was a series of biosecurity failings at the Holton plant, some of which were drawn to the company's attention in the past. These included "gulls were taking turkey waste to roosts on top of the turkey-house 500 m away" and "holes in the turkey houses could have allowed in birds or rodents". Defra minister Jeff Rooker stated in a
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
debate on 22 February that the outbreak was "exclusively a Bernard Matthews Holton problem".


Hungarian connection

The
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
, on 8 February, admitted that the outbreak may have been caused by semi-processed turkey meat imported directly from
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, where the disease is prevalent, despite earlier in the week the Environment Secretary,
David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member o ...
assuring the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
that there was "no Hungarian connection". Bernard Matthews had been importing 38 tons of partly processed turkey meat on a weekly basis from their Saga Foods company, in Sárvár, Hungary, to a processing plant next to the farm. Though Saga Foods lies from where the recent Hungarian H5N1 outbreak had occurred, a
company director A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...
admitted it was "possible" that some of the meat could have come from the exclusion zone. In response to this revelation,
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...
expressed concern over
biosecurity Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, plants, animals etc.) intentionally or unintentionally outside their native range or within new environments. In agricult ...
and whether any meat may have been distributed for human consumption in Britain. On 9 February 2007 the Hungarian authorities started an investigation to try to establish whether there was a connection between the Suffolk and Hungarian outbreaks. On 11 February the investigation revealed that turkey products were still being transported, in both directions, between the plant and Hungary with EU regulations being cited as the reason why a transport ban could not be imposed. The Hungary link was dismissed by the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
on 12 February. Even so, the H5N1 bird flu strains found in Hungary and Britain were shown to be 99.96% genetically identical and, according to an analysis of the viruses by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in
Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, were almost certainly linked. A leak from the Government's
COBRA COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...
emergency committee indicated that the authorities were not aware of the Hungarian connection until an investigator found a Gallfoods delivery wrapper in a Bernard Matthews bin. This raised the possibility that the outbreak was due to a "third party abattoir, Gallfoods in
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, just outside the restricted zone". This abattoir might have been a middle man for contaminated poultry farming tools, feed, or product from within the restricted zone, such as a Bernard Matthews owned subsidiary in Hungary. In response to the incident and allegations of a cover-up, Bernard Matthews himself stated on 14 February "I'm sorry – but this has not been of our making. There's been absolutely no cover-up at our end. I've been upset about allegations that we may have withheld information. That is completely untrue." Bernard Matthews was given permission to resume its shipments of poultry between the UK and Hungary from 17 February even though Defra indicated that Hungarian turkey products remained the "most plausible" cause of the outbreak."Bernard Matthews faces prosecution for failures at bird flu plant"
Philippe Naughton, Times Online, 16 February 2007


Consequences

By 8 February there was a lengthening list of countries that had banned the importation of
poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...
products from
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
including South Africa, Russia, Japan, and many others but a spokesman for the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
condemned the bans as "totally disproportionate" and the British Poultry Council pointed out that exports were less than 9% of the level of domestic sales.
Supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
sales of Bernard Matthews branded turkeys halved after the onset of the outbreak as shoppers sought out alternatives. One of the biggest ongoing surveys of consumer confidence revealed that, by 13 February 2007, Bernard Matthews was the least respected and trusted brand in Britain. Following the outbreak the company confirmed, on 19/02/2007, that 130 workers would be laid off for a period of twenty days due to a drop in product sales. The
Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...
then called for the government to provide compensation to the workers affected. The Transport and General Workers' Union paid out hardship monies from union funds to union members, on top of any state benefits to which the laid-off workers were entitled and a one-off £100 payment from Bernard Matthews. A row broke out on 01/03/2007 when it emerged that the government was paying compensation to the company for the 159 000 culled turkeys while laid-off workers were receiving nothing. At £3.75 each for hens and £3.53 for toms, the payout was then estimated at between £537 000 and £570 000. In the event, though, the actual compensation bill came out at £589,356.89. The crisis cost Bernard Matthews at least £20 m in lost sales and costs."Fury over Bernard Matthews compensation"
Norwich Evening News, 20 April 2007


See also

* Redgrave 2007 outbreak


References

{{Good article 2007 disease outbreaks 2007 disasters in the United Kingdom 2007 in England 2000s in Suffolk Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 outbreak B Disease outbreaks in England Food safety in the United Kingdom Influenza outbreaks