Lancashire farmers demand bird flu vaccine
Three months after farms in Preston were shut down by the avian flu outbreak, farmers want assurances that future outbreaks could be contained.
Lancashire farmers whose livelihoods have been decimated by the bird flu outbreak are urging the government to develop a vaccine. It's hoped protecting birds against the disease would give farmers the confidence needed to re-enter the industry.
It's been just over three months since a number of poultry farms in the Preston area were closed down after birds contracted avian flu.
John Leigh from Longton is just one of the local farmers whose lives have been turned upside down by the outbreak. He and his family have been without their usual income since October; their once highly successful egg farm is now a collection of empty sheds.
John said the change in pace has been stark: "A farm local to us caught bird flu in October 2022 and within about a week, five farms in the area got the same disease and it wiped us all out. With one exception, there are now no poultry farms within a mile or more of ours, they've all been finished off.
"Initially there was an awful lot going on. Customers were wondering why they couldn't buy from us and the ministry were here for two weeks while the culling process went on. After that we were given options by the ministry and we had to decide how we would continue. We opted to be without any business for 12 months. We can potentially start up again at the back end of 2023."
For farmers, the prospect of re-starting their businesses comes with great financial risk, as well as emotional turmoil. With the virus still circulating, there's no way to predict if and when they could become infected again.
John said, "I think farmers are generally pretty resilient and I'm of the mind set that I'd like to try again. Our plan is to get back into it, but my big concern is that if we do go back in - we could contract it again. We are pushing really, really hard for the one and only answer, as far as we're concerned, which is a vaccine.
"We really do need that to give us some assurance that we can carry on in business without having to look over our shoulders all the time. I would dread to go back into production and get it a second time, because that would be the end of the road for me."
Working alongside MPs and the National Farmers Union, John and fellow farmers are hoping to bring about change.
"All the poultry farmers that I've spoken to in this area are pushing hard for this. It's not something that farmers can do on their own, it has to come from central Government. We can do whatever we can to mitigate the risks, but at the end of the day it's a natural phenomenon and we can't stop viruses doing what they do best.
A Defra spokesperson said: “The vaccination of poultry and captive birds against avian influenza, excluding those in licensed zoos in England, is not currently permitted. We recommend strict biosecurity measures to prevent transmission of the disease.
“At present, while authorised vaccines are available in the UK, they are unlikely to provide full protection for the current strains of the virus - it is likely that some vaccinated birds would still be capable of transmitting avian influenza if they became infected.
“We continue to invest in avian influenza research and the development of efficacious vaccines aimed at tackling the virus”.