England Bird flu outbreak update

After the slaughter of around 159,000 turkeys after a bird flu outbreak. at a Suffolk farm a cleaning operation of the site has now begun.
The sheds which housed the birds at the Bernard Matthews plant will now be disinfected.
More than 320 farm workers have now taken the antiviral drug Tamiflu and so far no-one has been reported being ill.

There are strict controls in place around the farm near Lowestoft, but the risk to humans is "negligible" according to experts.

A Staffordshire MP raised concerns, however, about the safety of driving the culled turkeys across England. Bill Cash, the member for Stone, has said people living in Stone were "deeply concerned" about trucks carrying the dead birds through the area.

The workers who have taken Tamiflu include those who may have handled more than 2,000 birds who died from the virus.
While the outrbreak has so far not had implications for human health in England it is having economic consequences. South Africa, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong have blocked all UK poultry imports. Russia however, is still allowing the importation of cooked meats. Britain is Europe's second-largest poultry producer with annual poultry exports of around £300m.

A 3km (1.9 miles) protection zone and a 10km (6.2 miles) surveillance zone are in place around the farm where the outbreak occurred.
Poultry owners in a wider restricted zone, covering 2,090 sq km (807 sq miles) around Holton, must keep their flocks isolated from wild birds.
The source of the outbreak is currently unknown and there is speculation that it may prove to be impossible to trace the source. This causes some concern as if the source remains unknown then lessons can not be learned that would help prevent further outbreaks.