Bird flu closes animal hospital for nearly a year

Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital and Sanctuary closed in September 2022 after a case of Avian Flu was confirmed at the site

A wild bird hospital in Cornwall is unable to reopen until August due to an outbreak of Avian Flu in 2022.

Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital and Sanctuary closed in September after a case of Avian Flu was confirmed at the site.

Following this, Defra culled all the birds under the hospital's care.

Sanctuary boss Jeremy Whittaker said it was "heart-breaking" to see the birds killed.

Jeremy Whittaker said the hospital had plans to open a temporary facility

The bird hospital must now remain closed until August due to the disease control rules.

At the height of the outbreak, hundreds of dead sea birds washed up along the South West coastline.

The whole region remains under an Avian Influenza Protection Zone (AIPZ), with a mandatory housing order meaning all birds have to be kept indoors.

Mr Whittaker said the hospital was planning to open a temporary facility as the hatching season approaches so people can bring injured chicks for treatment.

He said he was optimistic they could control which birds they admit as there was now a much quicker test, which can give a result in about 30 minutes rather than sending a blood sample to a lab.

'Thoroughly cleaned'

Mr Whittaker said they would use the time while the hospital was closed to improve the facilities by installing solid roofs on enclosures to prevent infection.

He said he hoped it would fully reopen in August, but he was unsure whether they would be able to operate as a visitor attraction as human visitors increase the risk of spreading infection.

Professor Ian Brown, director of scientific services, animal and plant health agency, said the reason the site would take longer to reopen was due to the nature of the sanctuary.

"All the environment, the cages, enclosures, must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. And that is a problem on a site which is made to keep birds in a hospital situation," he said.

"It's an unusual environment and because of that there's a long lag before you can put birds back onto the site."