The Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed that there is an outbreak of bird flu at a pheasant farm in Preston. Public Health England (PHE) has reassured the public that the risk to them is ‘very low’ although a 1.8 mile protection has been set up around the farm.
Defra revealed that out of the 10,000 birds at the farm, many died and the rest culled. It comes after a recent rise in outbreaks, including one at a farm in Louth, Lincolnshire last December.After that particular incident,poultry keepers were told to keep their bird inside for 30 days in a bid to protect them from a highly infectious strain of avian flu that was circulating in up to 14 European countries, including France and Germany.
A full investigation is understood to be underway to get to the bottom of this most recent outbreak in Lancashire.