Details:- A solo walk, mostly on roads, from Halesworth Station north to Holton, where there has been the outbreak of bird-flue, and then onto the hamlet of Mill Common, before returning to Halesworth. Distance:- 13 miles; Time Taken:- 3.5 hours; Avg. Speed:- 3.7 mph. Going:- very muddy off road (see photo); Map:- OS Explorer 231; Progress:- Walked 69 - 431 to go. Photographs Hyperlink.
An Unusual & Slightly Sinister Reason For Footpath Closure....
....but entirely understandable. The debate in the national press mostly concerns the mystery of the origin of this outbreak. But a far greater worry is where does it go from here. DEFRA are sufficiently anxious about the 'flu mutating into a human variety to health check all those in close contact with this outbreak in Suffolk. My reading suggests that such a mutation is inevitable, but that it will probably occur in Asia, probably Indonesia, where bird 'flu is now endemic in the poultry flocks, and where no action is being taken to destroy the infected birds. Consequently workers in the industry are increasingly falling victim to the disease; it is in one of these people that the 'flu strain is likely to mutate. The advice goes on to say that in the event of the strain mutating one third of the UK population will become infected, and 60,000 will die from it. Chilling or what....?! The Bernard Matthews website has amongst it's FAQ'a:- What is avian flu? It is a disease which usually only affects birds' Hmmm.
Bernard Matthews Turkey 'Farm', Holton.
It seems all the more remarkable then that Bernard Matthews have been allowed to re-open their on-site factory for turkey processing only a few days after the outbreak, when they don't know how the 'flu strain arrived. Let's hope those government inspectors know what they are doing!
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