The number of outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is showing no sign of slowing down, with the latest flurry of cases reported in Yorkshire and County Durham.
So much so that from today (7th April 2025), the regional Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) mandating enhanced biosecurity and housing for kept birds currently in force across Cheshire, City of Kingston Upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Shropshire, Suffolk, Worcestershire and York has now been extended to cover the following counties:
Cumbria, County Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside.
One of the recent outbreaks reported in North Yorkshire caught my eye. Here’s the report of a case on 30 March 2025:
‘Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in commercial poultry and other captive birds at a premises near Pickering, Thirsk & Malton, North Yorkshire (AIV 2025/37).
‘A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been declared around the premises. All affected birds on the premises will be humanely culled‘.
The grid reference given for the centre of the protection zone (i.e. the location of the H5N1 outbreak at the centre of the blue circle) is given as: SE7592387464.
This appears to be Westfield Farms, Cropton Lane, Pickering, just on the border of the North York Moors National Park.
Sound familiar?
In 2015 the owner of Westfield Farms, where pheasants, red-legged partridges and ducks are bred and reared to be sold for gamebird shooting was convicted of permitting the use of a pole trap at his game farm after the RSPB filmed him driving past and appearing to look in the direction of a pole trap set above a rearing pen.
Pole traps have been banned since 1904. It’s a barbaric way to kill any animal and causes horrendous suffering and distress, often over a period of many hours. A spring trap is placed on a post where a bird of prey is likely to perch. When the bird lands on the ‘plate’, the trap springs shut on the bird’s legs. When the bird tries to fly off, it ends up dangling upside down because the trap is attached to the post by a chain to prevent it from being carried away. The bird remains dangling, often with severe injuries, until its ultimate demise.
The game farm owner had denied any knowledge of the pole trap but after viewing the RSPB’s footage, magistrates said it was “inconceivable” that he wouldn’t have seen it. In addition to his conviction for permitting the use of a trap, two of his staff were cautioned by police after a total of five set pole traps were found at the game farm (see here).
However, the game farm owner’s conviction was quashed on appeal later that year after judges at York Crown Court declared that “the prosecution had failed to prove its case” (i.e. that the game farm owner had seen the illegal trap) – see here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx and were these despicable traps removed and the whole place searched. If not, why not? I truly despair at the cruel mentality of some so called humans. xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Thanks – great coverage of the current situation which is very likely to worsen. I see the law is for kept birds, not for birds being released like game birds. Is there a different law regarding release of kept birds or what can be done to prevent other rearing farms from releasing birds. It would seem very wise to ban the release of any game birds this year. What legal measure can enforce this and should we be harassing the relevant Minister/DEFRA etc now? Any ideas ?
wild birds are the primary cause of transmission according to research. If you want to ban the release of game birds, you also need to ban all kept birds such chickens
“If you want to ban the release of game birds, you also need to ban all kept birds such chickens”
By law, game birds must not be released, and poultry must be housed.
For full restrictions and circumstances see: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu-cases-and-disease-control-zones-in-england
Hi Ian,
The release of gamebirds is not permitted within either the Protection Zone or the Surveillance Zone and there are strict requirements about recording the movement of birds, visitors etc.
The pheasant/partridge shooting seasons are many months away so nobody will be looking to release birds at this time of year. If bird flu restrictions are lifted later in the year then gamebirds will be released en masse (although there are also now restrictions on the release of non-native gamebirds on or near some protected areas thanks to a legal challenge from Wild Justice).
What I find staggering about the overall APHA response to these outbreaks is the arbitrary imposition of controls based on county boundaries. The outbreak in the north of Worcestershire has meant all of Worcestershire is now in mandatory housing of kept birds. But if you look at the border there are areas of neighbouring counties that intrude in a completely haphazard way, where controls are not imposed despite their proximity to areas that are.
This is insanity. Birds and their pathogens do not follow or respect ‘county boundaries’! I found myself in the ludicrous situation during the last bird flu outbreak of being two miles from different protection zones both east and west of me, as though birds couldn’t fly two miles.
We need far better disease management from APHA and Defra. The fundamental principles of our mitigation efforts need to reflect real life not arbitrary administrative boundaries.
Minutes after I posted this I got an email from APHA (I have four chickens which have to be registered by law (on pain of a £500 fine). It shows all the areas where poultry have to be housed. Every single area is a political administration boundary…
“In response to the significant increase in findings of avian influenza in kept and wild birds, in addition to the national Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ), mandatory housing measures to protect poultry and captive birds are now in force in additional areas in England as follows:
Large scale free range poultry and egg production should be stopped now it was always a disaster waiting to happen and disease management is impossible and was always the reason it was not practiced in the past. Poultry were farmed indoors to stop them catching disease from and spreading disease too the wild bird population past generations of farmers were not stupid they had learnt the hard way outdoor large scale poultry keeping is a danger to wild bird population
When all poultry were kept inside a very loud minority of people (mostly animal rights fanatics) with little to no understanding of farming were screeching and screaming that it was cruel for farmed birds not to be outside.
“When all poultry were kept inside a very loud minority of people.. were screeching and screaming that it was cruel for farmed birds not to be outside”
Which it undoubtedly still is.
“When all poultry were kept inside a very loud minority of people… “
… were also pointing out that the necessary prophylactic use of antibiotics to cut down on infections within over-crowded and stressed flocks threatened human health with resistant stains.
“Large scale free range poultry and egg production should be stopped now it was always a disaster waiting to happen and disease management is impossible“
The evidence suggest that HPAI emanated from intensive poultry farms in southern China, but escaped into wild bird populations, which then became one of the vectors of international transmission.
15.74 billion poultry birds were slaughtered there in 2021 alone:-(
HPAI is now widespread among diary herds in the United States.
“Poultry were farmed indoors to stop them catching disease…” yet had to be pumped full of antibiotics, rendering said antibiotics useless against resistant strains threatening human health.
“farmers were not stupid they had learnt the hard way outdoor large scale poultry keeping is a danger to wild bird population“
It’s the other way around: infected wild birds threaten free-range flocks.
HPAI originated from, and continues to evolve within, intensive farm production where the vector of transmission, and the turnover of new strains, is super-rapid, not from free range flocks.
And farmers certainly were stupid enough to think they could house large scale indoor intensive poultry farms, with prophylactic use of antibiotics to cut down infections, without threatening antibiotic resistance.
but it’s the wild birds spreading it which makes your comment meaningless
These outbreaks are carried by wild birds mainly waterfowl into the country.
what do you suggest cull all waterfowl coming in?
Culls of sickly geese and swans mingling among flocks on lakes and ponds might have to be contemplated. That is perhaps conceivable, although I do not know enough about it. What I do know enough about is that the release of millions of reared semi-tame mallards is (as well as being an inherently sordid element of the reared game shooting industry) completey unnecessary and should be stopped if only from the current bird-flu angle, nevermind on broader humane and ethical grounds.
“what do you suggest cull all waterfowl coming in?”
What do YOU suggest?
As usual Keith you’ve elequently and knowledgeably hit all necessary points intensive farming is cruel drug ridden poultry pigs dairy I’ve seen it all and I’ve never agreed with it.
I’d like to see the word ‘cull’ going out of use. Presumably it’s used to make the mass deaths of non-humans sound more acceptable.
[Ed: This is way off topic]