UK bird flu strain same as the Dutch one

The Associated Press

Officials place signs to restrict entry at a duck farm in Nafferton, England, where measures to prevent the spread of bird flu are under way after the first serious case of the disease in the UK for six-years, Monday Nov. 17, 2014. Farmers around the country have been warned to be on alert after at least one case of the H5 bird flu virus was confirmed at this duck breeding farm, but officials insisted Monday that the risk to public health is very low. (AP Photo / Steve Parkin, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

British officials say a strain of bird flu found in England matches the strain found recently in the Netherlands.

Environmental officials say the H5N8 strain discovered on a duck breeding farm in the Driffield area of East Yorkshire poses only a very low risk to public health. It is not judged to be a threat to the food chain.

Officials said Tuesday that the slaughter of the 6,000 ducks on the farm is underway.

The same strain of bird flu was recently found at a chicken farm in the Netherlands.

Officials believe wild birds may have brought the bird flu to Britain. It is the first outbreak here in six years.