About 50 geese and chickens were confirmed last week to have contracted Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, the first confirmed outbreak in the county. The animals were subsequently euthanized.

Current infections only impact workers who may have had contact with infected birds or their environments at the farm. Each of the exposed workers has not experienced severe illness or been hospitalized,

The UK government said on Tuesday it has confirmed a strain of the H5N5 bird flu virus in commercial poultry at a premises near Hornsea in Yorkshire. All poultry on the infected premises will be humanely culled and a three kilometer protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone has been put in place surrounding the premises,

In many ways, the initial reports of this case are – against the backdrop of a continuing viral outbreak that has devastated seabird colonies around the world, caused huge die-offs of sea lions and led to the emergence of an entirely new disease of US dairy cattle – pretty innocuous.

The United States Department of Agriculture last week reported that a pig on a backyard farm in Oregon was infected with bird flu.