Bird flu outbreak: Thousands of chickens to be culled in Suffolk

Chickens at a commercial farm in Suffolk have been diagnosed with the H5 strain of avian flu. The farm's entire population is suspected to have contracted the disease. An exclusion zone has been set up to stop the disease from spreading to other birds in the area. The strain of bird flu detected poses a low risk to humans. An investigation has been launched to find the origin of the bird flu virus.

Culling of a large number of birds so close to Christmas has been a big blow to the commercial farm. Even though only a handful of birds were confirmed to have been infected by the virus, there is a risk of the virus spreading. The infection from one farm can end up spreading to other farms and other birds if it is not contained.

To ensure that other birds are not affected by the virus, all the chickens at the farm will be culled and disposed of properly. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed that the strain of the virus found is an H5 strain of avian flu. While there are some strains of avian flu that are extremely deadly to humans, the detected low pathogenic avian flu (LPAI) poses a low risk to humans. Instead of the flu affecting humans, the risk is posed to other commercial farms which may witness mass deaths caused by the virus.

Public Health England has advised those who have come in contact with the contaminated birds to take anti-virals as a precautionary measure.

Food Standards Agency affirmed that there is no risk to consumers of poultry and poultry products. Cooking the eggs and meat is enough to kill the virus.

The Sun pointed out that the strain of the virus is different from the infamous H5N6 and H6N1 virus which can be fatal to humans.

Chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss, has asked poultry farmers to look for signs of infection in their birds. Middlemiss urged farmers to report cases of death in their farms so that the disease is detected and mitigated at the earliest.