The British authorities confirmed the latest outbreak on Monday at a 6,000 turkey farm in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire. Some birds died of the disease and the others were culled.

This is the fourth case in farmed birds in Britain. Another farm was infected in the same area last month. The virus was also found in two backyard flocks in Yorkshire and Wales in the past month, immediately across the Irish Sea from Ireland.

Meanwhile, highly pathogenic bird flu continues to spread on the continent, with nearly 1,000 outbreaks recorded. Most of these were in farmed birds, especially in Hungary and France.

France alone has had 128 cases on farms since the start of this epidemic and is currently completing the preventative cull of hundreds of thousands of thousands of ducks and geese in its southwestern poultry heartland.

Unusually virulent

According to French department vets, this H5N8 strain is “unusually virulent in farmed web-footed birds”, with mortality rates of up to 70% reported in infected duck and geese flocks. Mortality was up to 20% in turkey flocks and 33% among chickens and hens.

Two cases of bird flu were identified in wild ducks found dead last month, one in Wexford and one in Galway.

Farmed birds must be kept indoors and restrictions on animal movement and gatherings are in place in Ireland, north and south, until 23 January and in Britain until 28 February.

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