Moray Councillor Dræyk van der Hørn calling for more urgent testing as bird flu spreads to mammals

A local councillor is calling for more tests to be carried out while Forres is classed as a bird flu surveillance zone.

Dræyk van der Hørn (Forres, Green) believes more needs to be done to establish why and how bird flu (H5N1) is spreading to mammals.

He said: “Given we now have dead mammals including otters, foxes, seals and farmed mink reported in Scotland, advice is simply not enough. I have raised my concerns and I am not satisfied this issue is being taken seriously.

“We have just gone through the worst pandemic in a hundred years with Covid – will bird flu be the next disease that shuts down society? Our wildlife are early warning signs of this, like the canary in the coal mine.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson confirmed an outbreak of bird flu was reported in a back-yard flock at a home on Councillors Walk in Forres on December 14. To limit spread, restrictions on the movement of poultry, carcases, eggs, used poultry litter and manure were imposed and a 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone declared.

She added: “We are taking the situation very seriously and working hard with partner organisations to progress measures to respond to the reports of increased mortality among wild bird populations.”

Testing on dead birds at Findhorn Bay revealed avian flu in a pink-footed goose.

The spokesperson said: “Avian flu circulates widely in geese and ducks. We are not seeing anything like the levels of mortality that were experienced last winter in barnacle geese nor in seabirds last summer. The mortalities of pinkfooted geese as recorded on Findhorn, are not of major conservation concern. Monitoring is in place and we are keeping the situation under constant review.”

There have been reports of wildfowling around the bay, despite government and local authority advice to refrain. A decision to seek voluntary restraint, on all activities that could have an impact on the disturbance of birds across Findhorn Bay, was taken on November 29 to allow time for further information to be gathered.

The spokesperson said: “The increased risk that shooting represents in terms of the spread of avian influenza through the further movement of wild species is thought to be low. It is believed that disturbance generally results in localised changes only.

“However, we would urge members of the public and goose shooters to show restraint in using Findhorn Bay where they can see that birds are obviously under stress.”

Cllr van der Hørn highlighted the fact that some hunters are willfully ignoring advice.

He said: “This is depressing enough but many are simply not clear on the urgent nature of this crisis. That is why we need clear action, a total ban as a starting point and not just here in the bay but all our nature protected sites.”

Meanwhile, because 21 days have elapsed since cleansing and disinfection measures and a veterinary inquiry has been completed at the Councillors Walk premises, ministers have declared the end of the local protection zone and the start of a surveillance zone.

Cllr van der Hørn, who recently led the push for Moray Council to declare a nature emergency, wants more stringent measures.

He said: “The bird flu pandemic in our wildlife started by a strain propagated in the intensive poultry industry – an industry that in my opinion should be shut down. Breeding birds in confined conditions, with no genetic diversity is a perfect lab to develop diseases, as has been proven.

“Humans have caused bird flu and now not taking responsibility for a pathogen that is wiping out our wildlife.”

He finished: “There is simply not enough testing being done. The focus is on the poultry industry; I wonder how many more species are affected that have not been tested? We see the flocks of birds around piggeries for example so it’s not hard to imagine there could be cross infection there.”