First Bird flu case confirmed at UK farm in six years

For the first time in six years, a case of bird flu has been confirmed at a duck breeding farm in the UK, prompting authorities to kill all 6,000 birds there and establish a 10-km exclusion zone, even as the government today dismissed any risk to humans.
The UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said the risk to public health was very low as it emerged that around 6,000 birds will be culled and a 10-km exclusion zone is in place near the farm in East Yorkshire.
The exact strain has not been confirmed but the H5N1 form, deadly to humans, has been ruled out by DEFRA officials.

The bird flu virus spreads between birds and, in rare cases, can affect humans. The case is the first in the UK since 2008, when chickens on a farm in Oxfordshire tested positive for the virus.
"We have confirmed a case of avian flu on a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire - the public health risk is very low and there is no risk to the food chain," a DEFRA spokesperson was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"We are taking immediate and robust action which includes introducing a restriction zone and culling all poultry on the farm to prevent any potential spread of infection. A detailed investigation is ongoing. We have a strong track record of controlling and eliminating previous outbreaks of avian flu in the UK," she added.

A Public Health England spokesperson said, "We are assisting DEFRA in the investigation of an avian flu outbreak at a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire.

"Based on what we know about this specific strain of avian influenza, the risk to human health in this case is considered extremely low."
An outbreak of a highly contagious strain of bird flu was discovered yesterday at a poultry farm in the Netherlands. The Dutch government has imposed a three-day nationwide ban on the transportation of poultry and eggs and are planning to kill all 1,50,000 chickens at the farm in Hekendorp.
Officials say the strain, H5N8, is very dangerous for bird life and could potentially affect humans, although people can only be infected through very close contact with the affected birds.