Avian influenza: Cellardyke restrictions to be lifted
RESTRICTIONS on poultry movements around the coastal village of Cellardyke, in Fife, where a swan was found to have died from the H5N1 strain of avian 'flu are to be relaxed from midnight tonight (April 21).

The 3km restriction zone was imposed after the discovery of the infected bird, yet restrictions end after 21 days if there are no further signs of the disease, and no further cases have been detected.

The Scottish Executive has stated that if no more cases are found in the next week, then the wider surveillance zone, with restrictions on movement of farmed poultry and of other captive birds, would end on May 1, meaning an end to the special surveillance measures and vet checks imposed on farms in a 10km radius of Cellardyke.

Presuming the all-clear is received, it would also mean an end to requirements for poultry to be kept indoors in the 2,500 sq km area that stretches from Stonehaven to the Forth bridge and inland to the A90 and M90. Around 175 registered poultry premises fall within this area, holding more than 3.1 million birds, of which 260,000 are free range.

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