Bird flu database gets fast-tracked

The government is setting up a central poultry database to help identify any outbreaks of bird flu.

Commercial poultry keepers will be asked to register their flocks as part of an initiative, as no central register exists.

Defra said combining all the information on one database containing the location and size of poultry businesses would be a major advantage to aid effective communication between keepers and help manage any outbreak.

Work will start on the registrations within the next month.

Environment Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Margaret Beckett, said in a statement: "The European directive on avian influenza will require us to introduce a poultry register by 2007 but we must move much faster than that.

"This database would be another safeguard to help identify an outbreak but, more importantly, limit its spread. It would allow us to know where poultry farms are and target effort and resources effectively."

The UK has the second biggest poultry industry in Europe after France, producing almost 14 per cent of Europe's poultry meat.