Vets have slaughtered 25,000 chickens after bird flu was discovered at a farm near Banbury.

The outbreak occurred just fifteen miles away from the Gatecrasher music festival, prompting health fears amongst the hundreds of students who attended the event two weeks ago.

Chickens on Eastwood Farm had been infected with the disease for three weeks, before bird flu was suspected and precautions taken.

However, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra),stressed that the risks of H7 to human health are low.
The birds have been infected with the H7 strain of Avian influenza, rather than the deadly H5N1 strain. However there have been cases in Britain where farm workers have suffered conjunctivitis and flu-like symptoms from it.

A 3km protection zone around the farm and a 10km surveillance zone have been put in place around Eastwood Farm. The laboratory results on some of the dead chickens show that the H7 strain of bird flu is still highly contagious.

Further tests will now take place to try to establish links with previously identified Avian flu viruses and where the disease could have originated. It is suspected that the disease has been spread by wild birds.

The movement of birds and bird products have been banned in the whole of the temporary zone and all kept birds must be isolated from contact with wild birds. Restrictions have also been imposed on people who have contact with wild birds.
Students who attended Gatecrasher two weeks ago expressed concern that their may be health risks.

One Keble undergraduate, who attended the festival, expressed his concern, saying, “I’m quite worried. The chicken farm was really close by as we could all smell it when we were at the festival.”

A St Anne’s third year who also went to Gatecrasher said, “I’m concerned about the whole thing, given that a bird pooed on me and that bird flu is such a big issue in the media at the moment. I haven’t felt ill or anything since the festival on Sunday, so hopefully I’ll be fine.”

However, others were less worried. Jocelyn Corner, a second year student at Pembroke, explained that she was not greatly concerned by the news. She said, “The fact that the disease can only be spread by having close contact with infected chickens means that I don’t feel at any particular risk.

“It’s certainly not going to stop me from eating chicken. If the more deadly H5N1 strain had been discovered then I’d be much more worried that an outbreak had been found so close to Oxford. I do feel bad for the farmer though, and the chickens.”

In a statement a University Press Officer said, “The University has a flu pandemic planning committee which exists to plan for any type of pandemic flu, including bird flu. If there were an outbreak various procedures would kick in depending on central government assessment of the threat level (which right now remains at low).”

The Health Protection Agency has confirmed that the risk to public health remains low. The Food Standards Agency has also confirmed that the disease cannot be contracted by eating food, but can be contracted by close contact with infected birds.

Defra is considering whether any wider measures are needed.

Avian influenza

– Avian influenza (bird flu) is a highly contagious viral disease affecting the respiratory, digestive and/or nervous system of many species of birds.

– H7 is the non-deadly strain of bird flu: the risk it poses to humans remains low.

– H7 infection in humans is rare, but can occur among persons who have direct contact with infected birds.

– Advice from the Food Standards Agency remains that properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

– The H7 virus is destroyed by cooking thoroughly. By contrast, H5N1 is a much more virulent and deadly form of bird flu.

Evidence of cocaine use has been discovered in the Oxford Union and OUSU offices.

Cocaine-detecting swabs used to wipe flat surfaces in the toilets in Oxford University Students’ Union’s Bonn Square offices tested positive, as did swabs in five of the eight cubicles tested in the Oxford Union.

The OUSU building is leased by the University and the third floor houses the staff of The Oxford Student and Oxide radio alongside the sabbatical offices of OUSU staff.

The cocaine swabs were used to wipe a ledge by the sink and the back of both toilet cisterns in the third floor bathrooms, revealing traces of the class A drug.

OUSU President Martin McCluskey said he was shocked by the results of the tests, saying “I can’t quite believe it.”

He continued, “I’m surprised. The building is used by hundreds of people each week… There are more people from the OxStu and Oxide here than sabs [OUSU sabbatical officers].”

Hannah Kuchler, editor of the Oxford Student, whose offices share a bathroom with the student union, also argued that the toilets were freely accessible, saying, “Jacari, UCU, the fucking Lecturers’ Union. Anyone could use it.”

McCluskey added, “I can assure you that it wasn’t an OUSU sab. We don’t have a policy towards drug use, but we’re zero tolerance. The security in this building isn’t fantastic, sometimes the doors are open at weekends.”

He emphasised that he trusted OUSU’s sabbatical staff, saying, “we spend a lot of time together and I’m sure they’re not cocaine users.”

The current President suggested that the offices were regularly used by people not involved with the Student Union, saying, “Oxide and the OxStu combined bring in more people than OUSU… We’ve got non-students based here, too.”

McCluskey did not, however, give any indication that OUSU’s security arrangements would change in the near future: “There’s very little we can actually do. This is a University building, not an OUSU building.”

Tests also revealed traces of the illegal drug at the Oxford Union. Swabs turned up positive results in over half of the eight cubicles tested in the Oxford Union, and several students have admitted to using the drug on the premises.

The tests at the Oxford Union were conducted on two separate occasions: after President’s Drinks on a Thursday evening, and on a weekday afternoon.

One Oxford Union member, who preferred to remain anonymous, commented on the results.

He said, “there are certain people, some quite senior, who definitely engage in drug use. I personally really dislike it. I don’t doubt that it happens.”

Another student, who also did not wish to be named, said, “it’s probably one of the best places to do coke in Oxford. The toilet cubicles are massive and there are no bouncers.”

He added, “there were three of us in a cubicle and no one batted an eyelid. I snorted it off the ledge above the toilet.”

Ben Tansey, President of the Oxford Union, described the findings as “really disappointing”.

He defended the security arrangements in place, saying, “we have security on the door. They’re briefed to deal with things like that. We search bags sometimes.”

However Tansey admitted that, “Obviously it’s hard to police the Union toilets 24/7.”

He denied that drug usage was a significant problem, saying, “I’ve never seen anyone do coke in Oxford. I’m quite clearly not in the scene.” Toby Shergold of Thames Valley Police warned that although the tests were positive, the drugs could have been used weeks ago.

He said, “we’ve done swabs in some licensed premises across the county, but it’s important to remember that it’s an indicator of drug use. However it’s not something that a premise should be condemned for. “It takes one person to use drugs in that cubicle, for you to take a positive result, in recent weeks. It can be positive from weeks ago.

He also stressed that swabs don’t reveal that large numbers of people were taking drugs at a given venue. Shergold said, “these swabs are not an accurate indicator of how much drugs have been taken in a licensed premise.

“We have had swabbing operations around the county and if a licensed premise has a positive result, this is a reason to work with them to stop any future drug-taking on their property,” he added.

In 2006 a Cherwell investigation found evidence of cocaine in 11 student venues, including the Union and the Bridge.

Photo: Michael Marsland/Yale University

Professor Andrew Hamilton, currently Provost of Yale
University, has been nominated to succeed John Hood as Vice-Chancellor of the University
of Oxford.

Prof Hamilton has been Provost of Yale since 2004, and is
also a distinguished scientist, being Benjamin Silliman Professor of Chemistry
and Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale.

His nomination will need to be approved by Congregation, the
body of dons and other staff who form the ultimate legislative body of the
University. If approved, he will succeed Dr Hood in October 2009.

Speaking of his nomination, Prof Hamilton said: “Oxford
is one of the world’s greatest universities and the invitation to serve as its
Vice-Chancellor is an inspiring and humbling one.

“In due course and with the support and help of colleagues
in every part of the collegiate University, I shall seek to play my part in
ensuring that Oxford’s outstanding
reputation as a pre-eminent centre of teaching, learning and research is safeguarded
and enhanced for generations to come.”

Leaders head-hunted

Prof Hamilton’s nomination reflects a growing trend for UK
university leaders to be head-hunted from foreign universities or international
business.

Although born in Guildford, Surrey,
Prof Hamilton has spent most of his academic career in the US.

He will be the first Vice-Chancellor never to have studied or
been an academic at Oxford. Hamilton
obtained his first degree in chemistry from Exeter,
before reading for a master’s at British Columbia.
He received his PhD from Cambridge
in 1980.

Prof Hamilton is not the first Yale provost to be nominated
to a prestigious post at a top UK
university. The current Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, Alison Richard, was a
previous provost at Yale.

Predecessor’s legacy

Opponents of current Vice-Chancellor Dr John Hood may be
relieved by the nomination of an academic, rather than a business figure.

Dr Hood’s time as Vice-Chancellor has been marred by
division over his radical proposals to overhaul Oxford’s
900-year-old governance structure. Factions of dons formed, and after nearly
two years of disputes, Hood’s reforms were defeated in a postal vote of
Congregation.

Those critical of Hood saw him as an ‘outsider’ whose
reforms would create a corporate style of governance that would see influence
transferred from academics to external University Council members. Supporters
argued that the University would find it hard to raise money without
overhauling antiquated governance models.

One staunch opponent of Hood told the FT: “It’s positive
that we’ve got an academic,” adding that “there’s a certain way to argue points
academically and there’s a different way of arguing in business.”

‘Exceptional choice’

Lord Patten, Chancellor of the University, who chaired the
nomination committee, said that “Andrew Hamilton’s remarkable combination of
proven academic leadership and outstanding scholarly achievement makes him an
exceptional choice to help guide us into the second decade of the twenty-first
century.”

Current Vice-Chancellor, John Hood, said: "I am
delighted that Professor Hamilton has been nominated as the next
Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, from autumn 2009. I look forward very much to
assisting him in any way I can to prepare for his new role. For my own part, I
shall remain fully committed over the next sixteen months to the University it
is my privilege to serve."