There have been more than 150 cases of bird flu confirmed across England since the outbreak started on October 27 2021, and a number of those have been in the North East.
Currently there are no surveillance zones in place in the North East and there have been 19 confirmed cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in North East and North Yorkshire premises.
As of yesterday a bird flu prevention zone has been placed across the whole of Great Britain.
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New rules are set to be in force for all bird keepers across England, Wales and Scotland following an increase of cases.
As cases are beginning to rise, we’ve looked back and pulled together a map of all the locations in the North East where bird flu has been confirmed since the outbreak began.
Here are all the control zones that have been in place in the North East:
- Near Blaydon, Tyne and Wear
Revoked on April 20. It was put in place on February 23.
- Near Byker, Newcastle
Revoked on April 14. It was put in place after avian flu was confirmed
- Wooler, Northumberland
Revoked on April 7. It was put in place on February 14.
- Near Holy Island, Northumberland
Revoked on April 2. It was put in place on February 9.
- Near Whitby, North Yorkshire
Revoked on March 11. It was put in place on January 26
- Near Washington, Tyne and Wear
Revoked on March 6. It was put in place on December 11
- Nine premises near Thirsk, North Yorkshire
There were outbreaks of avian flu between November 21 and December 16
The first control zone was put in place on November 21 and the last lifted on March 5
- Two premises near Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire
Avian flu was discovered at premises on November 14 and November 22. They were both revoked on March 5
- Near Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham
A control zone was put in place on December 14. It was revoked on February 17.
- Near Richmond, North Yorkshire
A control zone was put in place on December 3. It was revoked on February 6.
- Easingwold, North Yorkshire
A control zone was put in place on September 25 and it is currently ongoing.
Take a look at the interactive map below to see if an outbreak has happened near you:
A spokesperson for the National Farmers Union said: "The government has reintroduced a nationwide AIPZ (Avian Influenza Prevention Zone) that requires all bird keepers in Great Britain to follow strict biosecurity measures to protect their flocks.
"Given the terrible year the poultry sector has experienced with AI and the ongoing risk, commercial producers will already be following tight biosecurity measures, so the announcement won’t really affect them so far.
"We are keen to encourage people with smaller ‘backyard’ flocks to step up their biosecurity measures to ensure they are doing all they can to protect their birds."
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