Tag: avian influenza

Bishop of St Albans asks about avian influenza research

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on support for research centres during a discussion on avian influenza on 4th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, research is absolutely fundamental at this point as we monitor what is going on and its very worrying effects. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to support centres such as the Animal and Plant Health Agency in New Haw, which is trying to work on this and desperately needs to redevelop its facilities?

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Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich asks about compensation for farmers following slaughter of birds with avian flu

The Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich received the following written answer on 14th November 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich: His Majesty’s Government what compensation is available to traditional free range turkey farmers who slaughter on farm for birds that have been slaughtered and are hanging as part of the maturation process at the time bird flu is detected.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about avian influenza compensation, farmers incomes, and plant biosecurity

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 22nd March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 8 March (HL5863), how much they paid to farmers in 2022 as part of the Avian Influenza Compensation scheme.

Lord Benyon (Con): In 2022, a total of £41.0 million was paid in compensation to bird keepers whose flocks were culled for avian influenza disease control purposes.

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Bishop of Exeter asks about dangers of avian influenza

The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 20th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the dangers of the spread of the H5N1 virus, following the death of a girl in Cambodia.

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Bishop of Exeter asks about control of avian influenza virus

The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 13th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus.

Lord Benyon (Con): Defra’s approach to avian influenza disease control considers the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice and is set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain(opens in a new tab), supported by the Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales(opens in a new tab). Current policy reflects our experience of responding to past outbreaks of exotic animal disease and is in line with international standards of best practice for disease control. In summary swift and humane culling of poultry and other captive birds on infected premises, coupled with rigorous biosecurity, are used to prevent the amplification of avian influenza and minimise the risk of disease spread from infected premises

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Bishop of St Albans asks about research into a vaccine for avian influenza

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 24th January 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 5 December 2022 (HL3620), how much they have invested into research into an avian influenza vaccine.

Lord Benyon (Con): Defra funds research directly or by leveraging funding through UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), a BEIS-funded non-governmental public body of which the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is a research council partner. In the last five years, £4.3 million has been invested in research, funded through BBSRC, either solely focussed on avian influenza vaccines, or as part of wider projects for poultry disease control.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about birds culled due to avian influenza

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 6th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many of the poultry or other captive birds culled for avian influenza since the start of the outbreak on 27 October 2021 were free from infection at the time of culling.

Lord Benyon (Con): Not all birds on infected premises are tested. It is therefore not possible to estimate accurately the number of uninfected birds on the premises at the point of culling.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about use of vaccines to prevent avian influenza

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 5th November 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what international discussions they have had about supporting research into avian influenza vaccines.

Lord Benyon (Con): Defra continues to invest in avian influenza research and monitors the situation in Europe and globally. International collaboration and knowledge exchange is facilitated through discussions between the UK Chief Veterinary Officer and her counterparts in the EU and globally through the World Organisation for Animal Health. Both the UK CVO and representatives from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) avian influenza national reference laboratory were present and engaged in discussion with their global counterparts at the recent International Alliance for Biological Standardisation conference on High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) Vaccination Strategies to Prevent and Control HPAI held in Paris in October.

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Bishop of Exeter asks about funding for combatting avian influenza

The Bishop of Exeter asked a question regarding further funding for a government project to combat avian influenza on 3rd November 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: My Lords, earlier this year, His Majesty’s Government announced the establishment of a new flu map research project, which aims to help us better understand the transmission and spread of avian flu. Along with many others, I welcome the £1.5 million in funding by the Government, but in the light of the severity of this current outbreak, have the Government undertaken an assessment of the need for additional and further funding for this project, mindful of the fact that prevention is better than cure?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about treatment and prevention of Avian Influenza

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 31st October 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what progress they have made with the (1) treatment, and (2) prevention, of bird flu since the establishment of a research consortium on the issue announced on 20 June.

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