Bird flu: Poultry and other birds to be allowed outside again as restrictions lifted
Cases of the avian influenza virus were detected across the country, including Yorkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, in late 2024, leading to thousands of birds being culled in the run-up to Christmas.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the threat of more cases had now fallen, so mandatory housing measures forcing poultry and captive birds to be kept indoors would be lifted from midnight on Thursday.
Defra is advising poultry keepers to prepare their outside areas over the coming days for the safe release of the birds, including cleansing and disinfecting hard surfaces.
A national Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ), which has been in force since December 13, is still in place, requiring all bird keepers to undertake strict biosecurity measures, including disinfecting footwear, clothing, vehicles, and equipment.
Bird gatherings also remain banned.
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ITV News
5 days ago
- ITV News
What is Lumpy Skin Disease?: The cattle condition that's causing a cheese shortage 'crisis'
Rags Martel finds out how London's cheesemongers are coping with the temporary ban on unpasteurised soft cheeses made in Italy and France London, and the rest of the UK, could be (brie) facing a cheese shortage. An outbreak of Lumpy Skin Disease -LSD for short - in cows in Italy and France has led the UK to temporarily banning imports of unpasteurised soft cheeses made in the two countries after May 23. It means some cheesemongers, who rely on these imports could be facing a shortage - with some reporting thousands of pounds worth of produce not being allowed into the UK and going off at the border. Mons Cheesemongers, which sells French and Swiss cheese across London, told ITV News that the ban is a "nusaince". Their East Dulwich shop has run out of Brie and fears Camembert will be finished by the end of the week too. It's meant they're losing out on sales, to the farm shops and delis they supply and that customers are not getting the cheeses they want. There are fears the ban will continue for much longer. Cheesemonger Andrew Postlethwaite said: " I think it would be pretty devastating to imagine a Christmas without raw milk, cow's cheese. "I feel potentially people don't quite realize how much of, how much raw milk French cheese they eat at Christmas, and what a big part of British culture - we've been eating French cheese since far longer than we've been drinking tea." The disease sees bovines covered in lesions, leads to a drop in milk production, immaciation and even death in rare cases. A Defra spokesperson said: 'This government will do whatever it takes to protect British farmers and their herds from disease. "We have strengthened protections by temporarily suspending imports of a small amount of products from Italy and France, following outbreaks of lumpy skin disease across Europe. "Unpasteurised cheeses are restricted, but as most Italian cheeses, such as Parmesan, Mozzarella, and Gorgonzola, are pasteurised this should not have a significant impact on supply chains." Some cheesemongers, have argued that the rules are too strict. Patricia Michelson, who runs La Fromagerie, has lost thousands of pounds worth of produce at the border, she told The Times. She argues that France's dairy industry is carrying on as normal, as their government tested the infected milk and found it "not be diseased in any way". Ms Michelson said: "If DEFRA wants to protect their herds in the UK then banning live animals is absolutely correct as a precaution. "Dairy herds (in the UK) are perfectly safe from French and Italian made dairy products. "EU due diligence is already rigorous but the new UK paperwork duplicates it at cost, causes delays, and adds confusion—especially at poorly managed UK entry points. "It also poses huge delays at the final import gateway in the UK. "Unless DEFRA has proof that all milk products from France and Italy are affected by LSD, we deserve clarity. "For importers, this isn't trivial—it's costly, illogical, and deeply frustrating. " But for London businesses, who sell cheese that's made in the UK, it could be a chance for their products to take centre stage. Bath Soft Cheese Co, which sells its products in London's Borough Market, is hoping they can step out of France's shadow and promote their cheese, made on a farm in Kelston with milk from their own cows. Bath Soft Cheese, Shop Manager Damien Johnson told ITV News London: "It is a bit of a crisis. "We'd like to think there would be a knock-on effect that it would give us an opportunity to promote the diversity of British cheeses and what we already produce and sell in the UK.""We hope that they contain the outbreak, mainly for the impact on the animals above all else, but we hope that it gives us an opportunity to showcase ourselves in the meantime while they sort out the problem."We don't have the fame for cheese like France or Italy does, so I think people are pleasantly surprised to find that there is a significant range of British cheeses, that can maybe replace for a period of time, the French cheeses that are no longer being shipped to the UK on people's cheese boards."
Metro
7 days ago
- Metro
Restaurants could run out of cheese after UK bans European cheese imports
Fans of some of the most popular cheeses made in Italy and France could be left disappointed after imports to the UK were banned. There's been an outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in both European countries, which means the UK government has banned certain types of cheese from being imported. Cases of the viral disease have been reported on the Italian island of Sardinia as well as in south east France in recent weeks. To try and prevent the disease spreading to the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has halted the importation of unpasteurised dairy products produced any time after May 23. While pasteurised cheeses such as pecorino romano from Italy can still make it into the UK (as long as the cheese's treatment processes are up to scratch), some of the most popular unpasteurised cheeses are currently banned. Upmarket cheesemongers say this has caused their supplies of products like mozzarella, fresh goat's cheese and brie to run low – and the situation will continue to worsen as new products are slow to arrive. Patricia Michelson, founder of artisan cheese distributor La Fromagerie based in Marylebone, said she is losing thousands of pounds worth of stock which is spoiling at the border. She told The Times: 'Every week our lorries are getting delayed. Even though they're chilled, it's not in the right environment and things come in and have to be binned. Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral disease which causes fever and reduced milk production in cows and water buffalo. The disease causes the cattle to develop skin nodules and lesions, as well as producing discharge from the eyes and nose. Cattle catch the disease through insect bites, but while humans cannot be affected by LSD, it's a notifiable disease because of its potential impact on animal health. The disease was first found in Zambia in the 1920s, and since then it has spread across Africa, with Morocco the only African country to have never recorded cases of it. In the mid-2010s the illness entered mainland Europe through Greece, the Balkans and Russia. 'We can't charge the producer, it's not their fault, they sent it all in perfect condition, it's what happens when it's stuck at the port. 'At the moment, we can't supply all the lovely, soft cow's milk cheeses like Camembert and brie. 'If people think that they can get what they want now, they won't, because everywhere will be slowly running out of stock. 'From Monday we will only be able to offer an English brie-style cheese.' La Fromagerie supplies more than 100 restaurants, including Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in Chelsea and triple Michelin starred Core. More Trending But Patricia says it has just sent out the last of its stock of French brie, and supplies of other fine cheese are in a 'precarious position'. A Defra spokesperson said: 'This government will do whatever it takes to protect British farmers and their herds from disease. 'We have strengthened protections by temporarily suspending imports of a small amount of products from Italy and France, following outbreaks of lumpy skin disease across Europe. 'Unpasteurised cheeses are restricted, but as most Italian cheeses, such as parmesan, mozzarella, and gorgonzola, are pasteurised this should not have a significant impact on supply chains.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Huge changes to mortgages for first-time buyers set to be unveiled today MORE: You could be given £3,750 off electric cars under new government grant scheme MORE: Mother of British hiker Matthew Hall, 33, missing in Alps tells of nightmare
Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Telegraph
Who will join my Dunkirk cheese raid and break the blockade?
When I was pregnant with my first son I cast my eye over the long NHS list of verboten foods and my eyes alighted on 'soft cheeses made from unpasteurised milk'. Adding insult to injury, I was also informed that blue cheese was off the menu unless part of a recipe where it was heated to a temperature that killed bacteria. As you might expect of any rational woman with a halfway discerning palate, I muttered: 'I'd rather stick a fork in my eye.' I then looked up the risk posed by listeria infection to healthy women in the UK and found it was very low (currently around 0.23 cases per 100,000 women). I remembered the women of Sparta who laid weedy newborns out at the Apothetae – a cave at the foot of Mount Taygetus – to test their viability in the face of the elements and thought I'm just exposing this kid to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune early. So, I continued to feast on Camembert, Roquefort, Berthaut Epoisses de Bourgogne and delectable gooey goats cheese. I had such bad morning sickness that very few foods weren't immediately disgorged, with the exception of sour dough, full fat dairy products and proper English orchard apples. The pregnant body is a ruthless dictator and knows what it wants to build a vital young human. But thank heavens I'm not pregnant in the summer of 2025, as a full-scale fromage crisis threatens our shores. It seems that an outbreak of bovine lumpy skin disease in France and Italy has led 'overzealous' Defra bureaucrats to impose a temporary ban on importing any unpasteurised cheeses made in the two countries after May 23. This means a sudden scrabble to secure cheese produced before that date or a pasteurised version, which in turn means complex paperwork, in mother tongues, that border officials seem unable to process until the product is spoilt. In turn, this means the UK's finest delis and restaurants are running out of their most delectable, sought-after offerings, although there's zero evidence that there's any threat to human health. Meanwhile, our French cousins can carry on savouring divinely-tasty unpasteurised Brie de Meaux, while yelling at us from Calais: 'Let them eat Cheddar!' I don't think there's been a bigger threat to the rivalrous nations' precarious, on-off entente cordiale since the 2022 World Cup quarter-final match, when France carried the day (and poor Harry Kane missed a penalty). Personally, I can cede a footie match, but deny me my soft cheese and I might turn nasty. But what this sorry tale really illustrates is the stupendous idiocy of the bureaucrats and politicians in charge of our food policies. We have just signed a trade deal with the US that may pave the way for all kinds of intestine-challenging gunk. Yet faced with a mouth-watering slice of Ossau-Iraty that poses no known threat to public health, British administrators are behaving like cheese-denying surrender monkeys.
