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UK risk of Newcastle disease increased to medium
Outbreaks have been confirmed this month on two premises for commercial poultry in East Flanders. (Stock photo)
Move from Defra follows new outbreaks in Belgium

The risk of Newcastle disease (ND) being introduced the UK has been raised from ‘low’ to ‘medium’, Defra has announced following two recent outbreaks in Belgium.

Outbreaks have been confirmed this month on two premises for commercial poultry in East Flanders.

The first premises holds more than 3,600 poultry and is a dealer in hobby birds, according to the Belgian authorities. On the second premises, there are around 60,000 poultry, of which less than 10 per cent showed severe signs or mortality.

According to a disease report from Defra, there have been 10 outbreaks of ND since June, at hobbyist poultry premises in Liege, Antwerp, Hainaut, Brabant Wallon, Brabant Flamand, East Flanders and West Flanders.

Currently any birds showing clinical signs are being euthanised, while others present are being vaccinated.

In May, there were reports of ND on a premises with 13 hobby birds in Luxembourg, on the border with Belgium. Another case was confirmed in hobby birds in Liege, Belgium, in April. The majority of confirmed Belgian cases are on hobby keeper premises.

As a result of the outbreaks, Defra has increased the UK’s risk level to medium. Pathways for ND to enter the UK include the movement of live poultry and wild birds; contact with fomites and contaminated equipment, clothing or transport; or contact with infected meat or meat products.

Defra said it will continue to monitor the situation closely.

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RCVS Knowledge appoints Veterinary Evidence editor-in-chief

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence.

A world-renowned expert in evidence-based veterinary medicine, Prof Cockcroft will lead the strategic development and editorial quality of the open-access journal. He was previously in the role from 2017-2020.

Katie Mantell, CEO of RCVS Knowledge, said: "We are excited about the extensive knowledge of evidence-based veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary research that Peter brings, and we look forward to working with him over this next phase of the journal's development." 

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News Shorts
CVS Group hit by cyber attack

CVS Group, which owns more than 450 veterinary practices in the UK, has been hit by a cyber attack.

In a statement, the group said the incident involved unauthorised external access to a limited number of its IT systems. As soon as the attack was discovered, the group took its IT systems temporarily offline, causing 'considerable operational disruption'.

It has warned that the security steps taken and ongoing plans to move its operational systems and IT infrastructure to the Cloud are likely to have an ongoing impact over a number of weeks.

Due to the risk that personal information was accessed, CVS has informed the Information Commissioner's Office. The company is working with third party consultants to investigate the incident.