Avian flu: Fourth Lincolnshire farm struck by disease

Bird flu has been found at a poultry farm in North Somercotes - the fourth recorded Lincolnshire case in recent weeks.

The government said all poultry on the site would be "humanely culled" in a bid to contain the highly contagious H5N1 virus.

A 3km (1.86 miles) protection zone and 10km (6.21 miles) surveillance zone was now in place, officials said.

The threat to public health remained low, they added.

Another farm in the area was also affected last week, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Bird flu has also been found at poultry farms near Woodhall Spa and in Ancaster, near Sleaford, and comes as the UK sees its largest outbreak of avian flu on record.

Earlier, the government announced that from 7 November all poultry and captive birds in England must be kept indoors under new restrictions to fight the disease.

Mark Keal, Lincolnshire Trading Standards manager, said: "All bird-keepers, whether large commercial poultry farms or just backyard flocks, must maintain stringent biosecurity and hygiene measures.

"Lincolnshire was badly impacted by the disease last winter, with multiple cases across East Lindsey, so we'd urge people to act now to try and avoid another bad outbreak this year."

He added that while the threat from bird flu to public health remained "very low", the public should not touch dead wild birds, and they should report any they find to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

In January, the BBC estimated one million birds had been culled to stop the spread of bird flu in Lincolnshire.

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