LONDON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- More than 10,000 turkeys will be killed after an outbreak of bird flu at a farm in England's North Yorkshire, local media reported Sunday.
"(H5N8 strain of) Avian flu has been confirmed at a commercial turkey fattening farm near Northallerton, North Yorkshire. Immediate steps have been taken to limit the risk of the disease spreading and all the remaining turkeys at the farm will be culled," Britain's Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss told Sky News.
An exclusion zone has been put in place around the infected site to limit the risk of the disease spreading, Sky News reported, adding that a detailed investigation is under way to try and pinpoint the most likely source of the outbreak.
According to Sky News, wild birds migrating from mainland Europe during winter can spread the disease to poultry and other captive birds. Small outbreaks of H5N8 have recently been confirmed in geese and swans in England's Gloucestershire, Devon and Dorset.
Cases have also been discovered at poultry farms in England's Herefordshire and Cheshire. The H5N2 strain of the virus was also confirmed in Kent earlier this month.
The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said avian influenza poses little risk to public health and the H5N8 strain of the virus involved does not affect food safety.
The bird flu outbreak came during England's second national COVID-19 lockdown, which ends on Dec. 2.
Another 15,871 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,605,172, according to official figures released on Saturday.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 479 to 58,030, the data showed.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines. Enditem
