LONDON: The UK government warned bird keepers to remain vigilant after bird flu was detected at a commercial poultry farm in northern England, the second outbreak this year and first of the season.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed on Tuesday the presence of the H5N5 strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly known as bird flu.
The virus was detected at a farm in Yorkshire, meaning the UK is no longer free from bird flu as per World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) rules.
All poultry on the premises was set to be culled, with a three-kilometer (1.8-mile) protection zone placed around the farm, near the seaside town of Hornsea.
While the last outbreak in February 2024 was of the H5N1 strain of the virus, the H5N5 virus detected this time around follows previous findings in Europe, according to DEFRA.
No bird flu cases have yet been detected during this outbreak in Wales or Scotland.
While the risk level to poultry remains low for premises with strong biosecurity, the risk was increased from medium to high for wild birds.
Between 2021 and 2023, the UK experienced its largest ever bird flu outbreak due to the H5N1 strain. It killed 3.8 million birds and the virus became widespread in wild bird populations.
Some UK seabird populations experienced “extensive declines” in the period, said a study by conservationists at the start of 2024.
The disease mainly affects birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
However, scientists have raised concerns about the virus’s ability to spread to and between mammals.
New bird flu outbreak confirmed in UK
https://arab.news/27u7a
New bird flu outbreak confirmed in UK
- The virus was detected at a farm in Yorkshire, meaning the UK is no longer free from bird flu as per World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) rules
Hundreds of thousands of Catholics join Black Nazarene procession in Manila
- Around 80 percent of Philippines’ 110 million population are Roman Catholics
- The annual 6km procession began at 4 a.m. on Friday
MANILA: Hundreds of thousands of Catholics took part in a barefoot procession in Manila on Friday, carrying the Black Nazarene, a centuries-old ebony statue of Jesus Christ believed by devotees to have miraculous powers.
Around 80 percent of the Philippines’ 110 million population identify as Roman Catholic, a legacy of more than 300 years of Spanish colonization.
After a midnight mass joined by tens of thousands of worshippers, the procession began at the Quirino Grandstand at 4 a.m., with the statue of Jesus placed on a cross carried by a four-wheel carriage, which then slowly traveled through Manila’s roads, thronged by massive crowds, for around 6 kilometers.
The procession — which is known as the Traslacion (“transfer”) or as the Feast of the Black Nazarene — commemorates the 1787 relocation of the Black Nazarene from a church inside the colonial Spanish capital of Intramuros in Manila’s center to its present location in Quiapo Church.
For many Filipino Catholics, the annual procession and the festivities surrounding it are deeply personal — a way of expressing deep faith and spiritual devotion, and conveying their personal prayers.
“As early as Jan. 8, you will already see a long queue of devotees near the Quirino Grandstand. Many of them are there to get the chance to wipe a towel on the image of the Nazarene. That’s their devotion,” Jomel Bermudez told Arab News.
Many devotees believe the statue is miraculous, and that touching it, or the ropes attached to its float, can heal illness or help provide good health, jobs and a better life. This belief is partly because the statue has survived multiple earthquakes, fires, floods, and even the bombing of Manila in the Second World War.
“We wipe (the towels) on our bodies, especially on sick people,” Bermudez continued. “My father, for example, was diagnosed with leukemia and now he is already recovered. He was one of my prayers last year. He is 56, and he survived.”
On Friday, many devotees were clad in maroon and yellow as they flooded the streets to swarm the statue, jostling for a chance to pull its thick rope.
Bermudez, who first participated in the procession in 2014, said he was inspired to do so by seeing the effect it had had on friends who had taken part.
“I saw friends whose lives really changed. That encouraged me to change too,” he said, adding that this year he is one of a group on the sidelines helping to keep the procession moving.
“My prayers before were already answered. This time, I’m praying for my children’s success in life,” he said.
Jersey Banez, a 23-year-old devotee, was among those who arrived as early as 2 a.m. to take part in the procession.
“I do this every year. I’m just grateful for a happy life,” he told Arab News. “My prayer is still the same: to have a happy family and a happy life, and that everyone and everything that needs to change will change.”
