The Scottish Government has confirmed an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI, H5N1) near Kirriemuir, in Angus.
The infected premises were declared at 20.15hrs last night (10 Jan 2025) at Over Ascreavie House, Kingoldrum, Kirriemuir, DD8 5HA.
A 3km Protection Zone and a 10km Surveillance Zone around the infected premises is now in force, meaning various measures are now in place to restrict the spread of this highly contagious disease.
Here’s the official declaration and details of the restrictions in place:
This is the second outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu in this area in recent years – last time the infected premises was a pheasant and duck-rearing game farm (see here).
This time the infected premises does not appear to be a commercial poultry or gamebird breeding facility – it’s an ordinary farmhouse with a very small hen house and locals tell me there is absolutely no gamebird breeding, rearing, releasing or shooting at these premises.
The restrictions in place in the Protection Zone and Surveillance Zone do not allow the release of any gamebirds, but given it’s almost the end of the shooting season for pheasant and RLPs (1st Feb) nobody should be releasing anymore at this time of year anyway, so no problems there.
However, the restrictions do not prevent gamebird shooting from taking place within the two zoned areas. I’m told that the area is infested with vast numbers of pheasants and red-legged partridges that have been released on shooting estates around Kirriemuir, and which roam around roads and the countryside unchecked.
If shooting now takes place inside a so-called protected zone, there’s a high likelihood that already-infected pheasants and partridges will be flying around the area even more as they’re chased towards the waiting guns, spreading a highly contagious disease to other wildlife. Then there’s the distribution and consumption of potentially-infected gamebird carcasses outside of the zoned areas…
What could possibly go wrong?
Raptor Persecution UK 
I live just within the 3km protection zone. There has been a lot of shooting going on over the past few days.
Looking on Google maps gives an entirely different view from Savill’s carefully trimmed external views! But still doesn’t look like a site of commercial poultry or game rearing.
There seems to be a duck killing facility within about 300m SE of the house (which is the nearest property). The area festers with commercially released disease vectors.
Its a predictable disaster being deliberately avoided.
I noticed the GWCT have put out a note about failure to monitor disease in grouse. Presumably this lack of evidence will have implications for the issuing of prescription medicated grit?
I find the reference by the GWCT to lack of monitoring for AI and the potential role of grit trays interesting.
GL33 which allows users to trap wild birds includes the statement that “Avian influenza (bird flu) is a notifiable animal disease”.
Yet NatureScot informed me last year that, in 2023, no shooting estates reported any suspicions of any type of avian influenza either in captive or wild birds.
In addition I asked Nature Scot about the potential for grit trays to be vectors for the spread of the disease. Jennie Park, HPAI Coordinator replied that:
“The role of medicated grit trays in the spread of avian influenza is not thought to be significant for the following reasons:
There have been very few reported cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in grouse.
Grouse are generally monitored by vets as part of the estate management and so signs and symptoms of disease are likely to be picked up.
The grit boxes are generally placed within individual territories and therefore the density of birds per grit box is limited.
The risk of transmission on the grouse moor across to waders is likely to be much less than where they congregate in large winter flocks where they are in close proximity to large flocks of wildfowl. Indeed waders and other wild birds such as gulls and waterfowl are likely to present a greater risk of spread of the virus to grouse.”
If SNH are relying on vets monitoring grouse health…surely there must be some sort of paper trail that gives them confidence? They wouldnt just say this out loud unless they could back it up?
I wonder if there is a way to swab grit trays to check for the virus (and other diseases)?
Vets have to “sign off” – the shipments of grit (loads of white sacks on pallets on a wagon) going from the distributor to the estate but I have never personally heard of the same vet who signs them off actually setting foot on that estate. It is possible though that those estates that do caecal gut sampling (i.e. send off the a blind end bit of the gut of some of the grouse shot to be tested for worm burdens) share this with said vet and they may consider it. I don’t know.
Interestingly several revered voices among the “grouse gurus” are quite strongly advocating that most estates should withhold medicated grit for a year or so. The rationale being that carrying over a poor quality, high worm-burdened stock of grouse over the last few years in combination with last year’s wet weather was the main factor for 2024 being a disaster. In other words, let the sickly birds that they have made to be dependent on the medicated grit die off “naturally” (miserably and pitifully) and lets have a restart with a new emerging stock of healthy birds next year. Then restart the medicated grit regime. What a nice (and legal!) way to treat wild birds that are not even theirs – as they only have the right to shoot them on their land – surely not to play God with them at all other times ?
At the end of last year, I reported a dead Whooper Swan close by a hide at Kinnordy. Acknowledged by the RSPB, but no mention of cause of death. I was concerned that it was a victim of bird flu at the time.
The infected farm is in line of sight of Loch of Kinnordy RSPB reserve. The area around Kinnordy is shot over for pheasants and partridge. At present at the loch there are a number of dead swans and waterfowl . This could be related to the severe cold spell and/or avian flu. The unnatural numbers of pheasants and partridges in the vicinity will not help the situation though .