Tens of thousands of turkeys have been culled in an outbreak of bird flu at a British farm

BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced on the 29th that bird flu broke out the day before at the Northleton turkey farm in Yorkshire, England, and all 10,500 turkeys at the farm were "humanely slaughtered". christine Middlemiss,
's uk chief veterinarian, told the media that the farm had activated "emergency measures" to cull all poultry when the disease was discovered on the 28th, controlling the outbreak in the first place and establishing threekm and 10km of temporary control zones to stop the spread of the disease.
, who migrates from continental Europe in winter, can spread the disease to poultry and other captive birds, says Mr Midmester.
the specific cause of the outbreak is still under investigation, "we are urgently looking for any evidence of the spread of the disease associated with the farm to control and eliminate it."
" Midmester warns bird breeders to ensure that their breeding sites are kept safe, vigilant and report any suspicious signs of disease immediately.
Gavin Dabrera, consultant for acute respiratory infections at Public Health England, said there were no confirmed cases of human infection with the avian influenza virus (H5N8) at the World Health Organization.
has little impact on public health and will not affect people's food safety.
" as a precautionary measure, local health protection teams will provide routine health measures and advice to farm staff and closely monitor developments.
" British Food Standards Agency in the media on the same day to the British consumers to ensure that bird flu is very low health risks to people, the right way to cook poultry products, including eggs, can be safely eaten.
is understood to be in demand for about 9m turkeys on Christmas Day each year.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not expect the bird flu to have a significant impact on the supply of turkeys or other birds over the Christmas period this year.
(Complete)