AVIAN FLU

Isn't that a poultry disease? Well yes, and the good news is that the H5N8 variant currently causing real problems in poultry has never been proved to infect pigs, and indeed is not theoretically thought to be able to. The bad news however is that several outbreaks have occurred within our practice area (in birds!) with the result that restriction zones have been applied around these holdings. If you are a pig keeper within a restriction zone and, have poultry on your holding, movements are automatically restricted for all other mammalian species on the holding. Usually in the case of pigs on the holding, movements can continue after a general license has been applied for and been granted but, this all takes a bit of extra time. People who find themselves in such a zone would do well to make sure they are ahead of the curve by applying for a movement license in good time. 

NPA have produced a really good summary document on AI and implications for pig units which is available on their website: http://www.npa-uk.org.uk/

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