Officials confirm second bird flu outbreak in Lancashire

Officials confirm second bird flu outbreak in Lancashire

Avian flu strain confirmed in pheasants at Preston premises with business link to nearby farm where earlier infection found

 The infection was confirmed in a flock of about 1,000 pheasants at a site in Pilling, Preston. Photograph: Andrew Linscott/Alamy

A second outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in Lancashire, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has said.

The H5N8 avian flu strain was confirmed in a flock of about 1,000 pheasants at a premises in Pilling, Preston, by the UK’s deputy chief veterinary officer, Graeme Cooke. 

Defra said there was a business link between the site and a nearby farm where the infection was found in a flock of about 10,000 pheasants earlier this week.

A 3km (1.8 mile) protection zone and a 10km (6.2 mile) surveillance zone had been put in place around both infected premises to limit the risk of the disease spreading.

A Defra spokesman said: “This case was proactively identified as part of a routine investigation of premises traced as a result of confirmation of the disease in Lancashire earlier this week. There is a business link between the two premises.”

A number of the birds in the latest case had died and the others would be culled humanely.

Public Health England has advised that the risk to public health from the virus is very low, and the Food Standards Agency made clear that bird flu did not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.

On 16 January, Defra confirmed a case of bird flu in a flock of about 6,000 turkeysat a farm in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

Earlier in the month, the strain was discovered in two small backyard flocks of chickens and ducks on a premises near Settle, in North Yorkshire, and Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales.

An avian influenza prevention zone was declared on 6 December and would remain in place until February 28. It required owners to keep poultry and captive birds indoors or to take steps to separate them from wild birds