New case of deadly bird flu in UK

LONDON, England (CNN) -- An outbreak of bird flu detected on a poultry farm in eastern England is the highly virulent H5N1 strain of the virus, British officials said Tuesday.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that further tests at Redgrave Park Farm near Diss in Suffolk confirmed the presence of the dangerous strain.

All 6,500 birds at the farm -- including turkeys, geese and ducks -- will be slaughtered to prevent the spread of the disease.

The agency said it is trying to establish the origin of the strain. It said it also is attempting to trace anyone who may have been exposed to the H5N1 strain, which health officials fear could mutate into a form that would spread easily from human to human.

Fred Landeg, the agency's acting chief veterinary officer, cautioned farmers in the region to remain vigilant for signs of the spread of the disease.

"I must stress how important it is for all poultry keepers in the locality to be extremely vigilant," he said. "They must report any suspicions of disease to their animal health office immediately and practice the highest levels of biosecurity."

Landeg said the European Commission has been informed of the latest development.

A two-mile protection zone and a six-mile surveillance zone have already been established around the infected premises. In these zones, movement restrictions will be imposed and poultry will be isolated from wild birds, the agency said.

Restrictions were placed on the farm Sunday when inspectors visited it to carry out tests after a local veterinary officer raised concerns.

This week's outbreak is the fourth case of avian influenza in Britain this year. Two of those outbreaks involved the less-virulent H5 strain of the virus.

The H5N1 virus has also been found this year in the Czech Republic, Hungary, France and Germany.

A spokeswoman for the agency said the strain identified in Suffolk was similar in type to an outbreak in the Czech Republic and Germany this summer.

"This suggests it may have come here from wild birds, although it is too early to know that for sure," the spokeswoman said. In June, officials in the Czech Republic reported finding the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza virus at two poultry farms and in a dead swan.

Veterinary officials in southern Germany said it was highly likely the Czech outbreak had the same source as cases of the virus found in a number of wild birds in the eastern German state of Saxony.

H5N1 is highly pathogenic and extremely contagious among birds, both by air and contact with feces. It is not easily spread to humans, but according to World Health Organization figures, 206 people have died worldwide from the H5N1 strain since 2003.

Among birds, mortality is close to 100 per cent, with many animals that catch the disease dying on the same day they were infected.

In January this year, an outbreak of H5N1 killed 800 turkeys at the Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk. After the state veterinary service confirmed the deadly strain the entire 159,000-bird flock was slaughtered.

"We have faced H5N1 once already this year, but there is still significant uncertainty surrounding this outbreak," Landeg said. E-mail to a friend