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Vets urge vigilance as poultry restrictions lift
"This will be welcome news for bird keepers across the country who have put great effort into keeping their flocks safe this winter."
The risk of avian influenza in poultry with good biosecurity has been reduced to ‘low’. 

The UK’s chief veterinary officers have urged vigilance following the relaxation of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) on Saturday (15 May).

The AIPZ was first introduced in November 2020 to protect flocks against the disease circulating in wild birds. Under the AIPZ, keepers with 500 birds or more were required to restrict access to all non-essential people on their sites and maintain strict hygiene and biosecurity measures.

Over the weekend, the APHA lowered the risk of avian influenza in poultry with good biosecurity to ‘low’. Therefore the mandatory requirements introduced as part of the AIPZ - and the additional biosecurity measures introduced on 31 March - have been lifted.

In a joint statement, the Chief Veterinary Officers from England, Scotland and Wales appealed to keepers to stay vigilant for any signs of disease in their birds and seek advice from their vet if they have any concerns.

“This will be welcome news for bird keepers across the country who have put great effort into keeping their flocks safe this winter,” they said.

“We have taken swift action to contain and eliminate this disease, and we urge all bird keepers – whether they have just a few birds or thousands – to continue to do their bit to maintain strict biosecurity measures on their premises so that we do not lose the progress that we have made over the past few months. Low risk does not mean no risk.”

A ban on poultry and bird gatherings has also been lifted, including pigeon gatherings organised for races from mainland Europe. Organisers must notify the APHA a minimum of seven days before the event and comply with the provisions of the new General Licence. 

The government has advised that risk to human health from the H5N8 virus strain is low and from the H5N2, H5N5 and H5N1 virus strains is very low. Food standards bodies also stress that the disease poses little risk for UK consumers and does not affect the consumption of poultry products.

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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.