What strain of bird flu is it?

Test results from the latest outbreak of bird flu are expected today, confirming whether it is the highly infectious H5N1 strain which has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in south-east Asia.

Six and half thousand birds including turkeys, ducks and geese are being culled at the infected free-range farm in Redgrave, Suffolk.

Yesterday afternoon a 3km Protection Zone and a 10 km Surveillance Zone were placed around the infected premises.

At 9pm a wider temporary control zone was established, covering much of Norfolk and the whole of Suffolk.

No movements of poultry are permitted within these zones, and all birds must be kept indoors.

In February, nearly 160,000 birds were culled after an outbreak of the H5N1 form of the virus at a Bernard Matthews poultry plant in Holton, Suffolk.

In April 2006, chickens on a farm near Dereham Common, Norfolk tested positive for the less serious H7 strain of the virus.

But experts reassured the public that the risk to them was minimal because bird flu rarely affects humans and is only transmitted through close contact with infected birds.

People were also urged by the Food Standards Agency not to shy away from eating eggs and poultry meat and told that they remain safe as long as they are properly cooked.

And poultry industry leaders swiftly moved to allay fears that the bird flu outbreak would lead to a shortage of Christmas turkeys.

National Farmers' Union poultry board chairman Charles Bourns said the cull was only a small proportion of the 10 million turkeys bought for Christmas each year.

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