160,000 more turkeys will be killed

Bird flu has been confirmed in the U.K. on a Suffolk turkey farm where it has killed 2,600 turkeys. Tests have shown that it is the highly pathogenic Asian strain of the H5N1 virus.

Four strains of the H5N1 virus have been identified.

160,000 more turkeys are being slaughtered, as a preventive measure. The birds are being gassed in containers.

This is the first case of H5N1 on a commercial farm in the U.K. It is being assumed that the virus was passed on from a wild bird, possibly a small bird who entered the ventilation system.

Authorities are saying that there is no risk to humans and that no infected birds entered the food chain. H5N1 has killed 164 people worldwide since 2003.

According to the Infectious Diseases Society of America an estimated 220 million birds have either died of H5N1 or have been killed to prevent its spread, from 2003-2006.

To read the February 3 article in the BBC on-line, please go to:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6327193.stm