6,000 ducks to be culled as bird flu hits Britain

LONDON -- A case of bird flu has been confirmed at a duck breeding farm in East Yorkshire, according to officials. It’s the first instance in the UK since 2008.

6,000 ducks will be culled and a 6 mile (10km) exclusion zone is set to be put in place around the farm.

However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) say the heath risk to the public is very low. The deadly H5N1 strain has been ruled out.

Avian flu on a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire: risk to public health is very low and no risk to food chain @DefraGovUK #birdflu

— PHE Yorks & Humber (@PHE_YorksHumber) November 17, 2014

In the Netherlands, the Dutch government has imposed a three-day ban on the transportation of poultry and eggs after an outbreak of a highly contagious strain of bird flu. That strain, H5N8, is dangerous for bird life and has the potential to affect humans, but only those in close contact with the birds.

Ducks are seen in cages at a farm near Nafferton, East Yorkshire where a strain of bird flu has been confirmed on November 17, 2014 in East Yorkshire, England. Health officials will cull 6000 ducks and have imposed a six mile exclusion zone to contain the spread, although any risk to public health is said to be very low. Credit: Anna Gowthorpe/Getty Images

The cases may be linked, UK chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens told the BBC.

The East Yorkshire duck farm at the centre of the UK's first bird flu outbreak since 2008 pic.twitter.com/hEkHrJCiJT

— Paul Murphy (@BBCPaulMurphy) November 17, 2014

"The link to the disease they found in Germany and the Netherlands is our most likely source and, on that basis, Public Health England has said with this strain there is not a risk to public health," he said.