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In the UK, more than 10,000 turkeys will be slaughtered after an outbreak of bird flu on a farm in northern England. Authorities have set up a security zone several kilometers around the North Yorkshire farm.
About 10,500 birds will be killed in a controlled manner to prevent the spread of the disease, the Ministry of Environment, Food and Agriculture (Devra) said Sunday. “We are urgently looking for evidence of the spread of disease associated with this farm to control and eliminate it,” Christine Middlemis, the UK’s chief veterinary officer who advises the government on animal welfare, told the Press Association news agency.
Avian influenza is not harmful to humans. British health authorities have assured residents that the outbreak does not pose a food safety risk.
Several outbreaks have been reported in the UK in the past month. After outbreaks in Russia and Kazakhstan in the summer, bird flu has also spread to Western Europe. The Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Germany and Belgium are among the countries affected by bird flu.
