Bird flu in Britain continues to crop up

Veterinary officials confirmed on Monday that the culled birds at Hill Meadow Farm in Knettishall on the Norfolk/Suffolk border had been infected with H5N1 strain of bird flu.

A fifth farm, Grove Farm, Botesdale, Suffolk, close to the first infected site, was then upgraded to a cull on suspicion of having the disease after dozens of birds were found dead by officials; initial tests on 5,500 turkeys slaughtered found the premises was free of the deadly disease.

A new 3km protection zone around the Hill Meadow Farm case has been established and a wider surveillance zone covering both sites has also been imposed and a national and a local disease control centre has been established in Bury St Edmunds, which is in communication with bird keepers nationwide - especially those in zones on the poultry register.

Veterinary officials say turkeys culled at two farms over suspicions they had been exposed to bird flu have tested negative for the deadly H5N1 strain.

The turkeys at Stone House in West Harling and Bridge Farm in Pulham, in Norfolk, were close to Redgrave Park Farm and managed by Redgrave Poultry who also own the two farms in Norfolk and Suffolk, central to the outbreak and where H5N1 has been confirmed.

Welcome though the news is, nevertheless more than 28,000 turkeys, ducks and geese have been culled in efforts to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

Protection zones and an extended surveillance zone have been placed around the two infected sites, with a wider restricted zone covering Suffolk and most of Norfolk following the H5N1 outbreak a week ago at Redgrave Park Farm, in Redgrave, near Diss, on the Norfolk/Suffolk border.

It was suspected the birds at four other farms may have been contact with the lethal virus because they shared staff and resources.

The cost of animal infections this year is already said to have cost the government and taxpayer more than £120m.