Bird flu zone declared as case found

AN outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in Derbyshire.

The Government says birds at a commercial poultry site near Willington have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the disease.

Public health authorities have set up a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone around the infection site to limit the risk of the disease spreading to other birds and humans.

This will include restrictions on the movement of poultry and other captive birds, carcasses, eggs, poultry litter and manure.

All bird keepers in these zones must follow increased measures while the restrictions are in place.

According to documents released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the 3km “protection zone” extends into Stenson Fields. The larger “surveillance zone” includes parts of Derby as well as Willington, Hilton, Melbourne and Swadlincote.

Tests are under way to determine how pathogenic this strain of the disease is, with recent cases of the same type proving to be highly contagious.

It comes less than a month after Derbyshire County Council backed national advice urging bird keepers to be “extra vigilant” over winter to avoid another outbreak.

Derbyshire saw two outbreaks last winter, and earlier this month the Government introduced an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone across England to try to prevent further cases. Last year the Government ordered people to keep their birds indoors in an effort to stop the spread of the disease, but this requirement has not been put in force so far this year.