UK Confirms First Bird Flu Case At Farm

Britain confirmed its first outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu in a domestic flock on Saturday, saying the virus has been detected on a farm owned by Europe's largest turkey producer where 2,500 turkeys died.

As a precaution all 159,000 turkeys will be slaughtered on the farm in Holton in Suffolk, about 130 miles northeast of London, said Britain's Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg. He said he expects the outbreak to be contained.

Television news footage showed piles of slaughtered birds being funneled into an open tractor trailer before being taken away for incineration.

Landeg said the virus was detected in only one of 22 turkey sheds on the farm, which is owned by Bernard Matthews PLC.

Workers have been offered antiviral drugs and are wearing protective clothing, said Health Protection Agency virologist Maria Zambon. She added that the virus does not transmit easily to humans and has not been found to be transmitted through food.

Experts stressed the situation did not pose a public health threat.

This is the first instance of H5N1 in Britain since a wild swan in Scotland was found to have the virus in March. Turkeys and chickens are more susceptible to H5N1 than wild birds, who can carry the disease over long distances without showing symptoms.

"This virus is going to be in bird populations for years to come and the way in which we'll deal with it is by implementing the well-rehearsed plan to stamp it out at source," Dr. David Nabarro, the U.N. influenza coordinator, told British Broadcasting Corp. television.

Bird flu has killed or prompted the culling of millions of birds worldwide since late 2003 when it first began ravaging Asian poultry stocks. It has killed at least 164 people worldwide, but remains difficult for humans to catch. Experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a global pandemic. So far, most human cases have been traced to contact with infected birds.

Also, on Saturday, Japanese authorities confirmed that nation's fourth outbreak of the virulent H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus at a poultry farm in the country's south.

About two dozen chickens were found dead at the farm in Shintomi, southwestern Miyazaki prefecture, last month. The birds had been infected with the H5N1 strain deadly to humans, the Agricultural Ministry said Saturday.

The case marks Japan's fourth H5N1 outbreak incident this year and the third to hit poultry farms in Miyazaki, Japan's largest chicken-producing region.

Authorities have already culled thousands of birds to try to stop the spread of the virus. Officials have begun slaughtering the approximately 93,000 chickens at the Shintomi farm and are sterilizing the site, according to the ministry.

Japan has confirmed only one human H5N1 infection, and no human deaths.