Bird flu case on Norfolk poultry farm prompts mass cull of animals

A case of bird flu has been detected at a poultry farm in Norfolk, the Animal and Plant health Agency has said.

A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) was confirmed in commercial poultry at a premises in Gayton, near King's Lynn, Norfolk, on Sunday, the agency said.

A 3km Protection Zone and 10km Surveillance Zone were put in place around the premises.

All poultry on the farm will be humanely culled, said the APHA.

It is the latest in a wave of cases of bird flu to hit poultry flocks and captive birds across the UK in the past year.

Eight disease control zones are in force in Norfolk, Cornwall, Devon and Bedfordshire, and more than 100 cases have been recorded in England, with further cases in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

There have also been devastating outbreaks among wild birds, killing thousands of nesting seabirds in important colonies and forcing the closure of tourist wildlife spots such as the Farne Islands, off Northumberland.

Avian flu can be spread by close contact with a bird, dead or alive, which has been infected.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website describes the virus as "primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general public's health is very low".

Earlier this summer a poultry farmer in the county called for all animals to be vaccinated against the disease, as the UK faced its largest ever outbreak, with multiple cases detected in the wild bird population.

In June, Defra announced £1.5m for new research to be carried out into the disease.

As part of that, the Animal and Plant Health Agency was asked to lead a consortium of eight scientific groups with the task of finding new ways of tacking future outbreaks.