Home   News   Article

Avian flu cases found in Aberdeenshire on farm near Barthol Chapel


By David Porter

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

The latest incident of the virus has been confirmed at a farm premises in Aberdeenshire located near Barthol Chapel.

The site has been deemed a “special category premises” due its non-commercial nature and, based on a veterinary risk assessment, no new disease control zones were applied.

The outbreak follows similar incidents in areas in Scotland which have included Gretna, Moffat, Arbroath, and Annan where notifications have been made since the beginning of November 2021.

The Scottish Government said that there have been recent findings of dead wild birds linked to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in a variety of species across the country.

Such deaths have been identified at locations in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, Falkirk, Fife, Highland, Midlothian, Perth and Kinross, and South Lanarkshire.

The announcement was made just 24 hours after avian flu restriction zones at three locations in Dumfries and Galloway were lifted.

Chief vet Sheila Voas
Chief vet Sheila Voas

Scotland's chief veterinary officer Sheila Voas said : “This does not mean that avian influenza (AI) has gone away, in fact the risk from AI remains unchanged."

She called for people to maintain good practices to protect their birds, including keeping them separate from wild birds and their droppings, limiting access to poultry premises, and ensuring to keep out rodents and potentially contaminated rain water.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More