Bird flu cases confirmed in two wild ducks in England

Two wild birds in England have been found to have bird flu, the Government has announced.

The two wigeon ducks, discovered in Somerset and Leicestershire, were confirmed to be infected with the H5N8 strain of the virus – the same as that found earlier this week in a peregrine falcon in Scotland and another wigeon in Wales.

The strain has been circulating in a number of farms across mainland Europe and was discovered at a poultry farm in Lincolnshire last week. A 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone were put in place around the farm in an attempt to stop the virus spreading within the UK.

Following the latest discovery, Public Health England insisted the risk to the public was very low. Poultry and poultry products such as eggs are safe to eat as long as they are properly cooked.

Nigel Gibbens, the UKs, Chief Veterinary Officer said: "Today’s confirmed findings mean that avian flu has now been found in wild birds in widely separated parts of England, Wales and Scotland.

“This is far from unexpected and reflects our risk assessments and the measures we have taken including introducing a housing order for poultry and a ban on gatherings. We’ll continue to work with ornithological groups to further strengthen surveillance and our understanding of the extent of infection in wild birds.

“The risk to kept birds cannot be eliminated by housing alone. This virus can be carried into buildings on people and things to infect birds. Good biosecurity measures are essential. We also need people to continue to report findings of dead wild birds so that we can investigate.

“It is important to reiterate Public Health England’s advice that the risk to public health is very low and the Food Standards Agency is clear that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.”

The spread of the H5N8 strain across Europe led the UK Government to take a number of steps to reduce the risk to UK farmers and the wider public. On 6th December it introduced a Prevention Zone, requiring all farmed birds to be kept away from wild birds, and temporarily banned events, such as livestock fairs and auctions, where lots of birds are kept in close proximity.

In 2007, a bird flu outbreak that began at a Bernard Matthews turkey farm spread across the UK and led to the forced slaughter of hundreds of thousands of birds.

A similar pandemic in 2005 began in south-east Asia and rapidly spread across the globe.