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Second bird flu outbreak in UK
23 November 2007
| Key facts |
- Bird flu is chiefly a disease of birds. It doesn't spread easily from birds to humans.
- The only people who have become infected with the virus so far have been in direct contact, for an extended length of time, with infected poultry or areas contaminated with infected faeces.
- There is no danger of becoming infected with bird flu by eating poultry or eggs, so long as they have been cooked properly.
- Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) works against the human form of flu. It won't prevent you from getting flu but it can reduce the amount of the virus in your body and may shorten the length of the illness. The World Health Organization recommends oseltamivir as the best treatment for people who have been exposed to H5N1.
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There has been a second outbreak of bird flu in the UK at another farm on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. Test results have confirmed birds on the farm were infected with the H5N1 flu strain.
Around 9,000 turkeys have been slaughtered at the farm, which is operated by the same company that runs Redgrave Park Farm where the first bird flu case was discovered last week.
DEFRA had already ordered four precautionary culls - including at the new infected site - because poultry staff moved between the sites and authorities feared "dangerous contact" with the initial case.
There is still no confirmation of what caused the initial outbreak and the government continue to investigate possible sources of the disease, including the chance that it could have been brought onto the farm by a wild bird.
All people working on the farms involved in the outbreak have received antiviral drugs.
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