BB FANS

Deadbrain
27 Apr 2006 by Malcolm Drury

Following the identification of a strain of bird flu at a chicken farm near Norwich, troops who were to have gone to Iraq are being diverted to help seal off and secure the county of Norfolk, as a national state of emergency is declared.

Speaking at a hastily-arranged press conference this morning a harassed-looking Tony Blair said that although the measure might seem extreme, the crisis was itself extremely serious. He referred to the irrefutable proof that the dead swan at Cellardyke last month had been deliberately infected by al-Qaeda, and reminded those present that he had predicted a summer avian terror campaign.

Although the flu strain in the Norfolk chickens is not the one that many fear could mutate and infect humans, the PM said that now is not the time for complacency. "The terrorists are among us," he said, "and that is why troops are being deployed."

The entire county of Norfolk is to be sealed off from the rest of the country, with no-one allowed in by air, land or sea. In addition, the east coast from the Humber to the Thames Estuary is to be placed under special surveillance and all residents in a strip stretching inland for 10 miles, and all of Norfolk, are to be placed under a curfew. Police and specially-empowered traffic wardens will be authorised to arrest anyone seen out-of-doors between 8 pm and 6 am unless they are carrying a government-approved ID card.

The PM categorically denied that the drastic measures are a wild over-reaction designed to deflect public attention from the current problems he faces from some of his Cabinet colleagues.

"That is palpable nonsense," he said. "We know with absolute certainty that the terrorists are planning a massive attack on Britain."

He cited the existence of secret documents obtained by the ultra-secret MI7, which, as DeadBrain has exclusively revealed, has its headquarters in the cellar at 10 Downing Street. He claimed that the documents prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that al-Qaeda agents have recently attempted to buy uranium-enriched bird seed from Nigeria with the obvious intent of releasing millions of radioactive sparrows into British towns and cities.

"This may well be the beginning of a reign of terror the likes of which country has not seen since Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister," he said.

It's pure co-incidence that me and my Dad were in Scotland the same day bird flu reached there and that my Dad was in Norwich the same day it reached there! I assure you!

Friday, April 28, 2006
The SUN

A poultry worker has caught the H7 strain of bird flu in the form of
conjunctivitis, the Health Protection Agency confirmed tonight.

The affected person is thought to have contracted the infection via close contact with poultry on a Norfolk farm.

An HPA spokeswoman said the worker’s symptoms were limited to an eye infection and would not release any further details about the age or gender of the sufferer.

Experts say that tests have shown that the virus detected at the farm is the milder H7 strain of avian flu - not the deadly H5N1 strain that has claimed the lives of hundreds of people in Asia.

Vets were tonight continuing to slaughter 35,000 chickens at the farm in Hockering, Norfolk, following the outbreak detected earlier this week.

Hundreds of people living near the farm were tonight being given letters of “reassurance” by local councils.

Officials at Norfolk County Council and Breckland District Council said letters were being delivered to 1,800 homes in villages around the farm.

“We want to reassure residents that all agencies are working together to minimise the impact of the outbreak of the form of avian flu on the local community,” said a spokesman for Norfolk County Council.

“A joint letter from the two Chief Executives of the councils is being
delivered to about 1,800 homes tonight and over the weekend in North and East Tuddenham, Hockering and Mattishall to reassure local people.”

Workers at Witford Lodge Farm in Hockering, Norfolk, were earlier offered antiviral drugs and were monitored by doctors.

There are concerns that an avian flu strain could mutate into a form which is easily spread from person to person, resulting in a global flu pandemic with a death toll of millions.

I bought a Norfolk chicken today in M & S.

Wondered where this one had gone

Saturday, 29 April 2006, 18:34 GMT 19:34 UK

Two poultry farms, close to a farm in Norfolk infected with bird flu, have found the disease in their livestock.

The latest infected areas are close to Witford Lodge Farm, where some 35,000 chickens were slaughtered after an avian flu strain was found.

The government said initial tests showed the farms were affected by a less serious strain than the deadly H5N1 which killed a swan in Fife.

Two free range flocks will be slaughtered, officials said.

BBC