Hens culled after bird flu strain found on Scottish farm

[January 14, 2016]  EDINBURGH (Reuters) - The Scottish government has ordered a cull of tens of thousands of hens after a mild strain of H5N1, or bird flu, was identified on a farm in Fife, it said on Wednesday.

"Laboratory tests have identified a very mild strain of the H5N1 virus and a humane cull of almost 40,000 birds has now begun," a statement said.

It added that the flu was "quite distinct" from the pathological strain which has caused several hundred human deaths in other parts of the world [nL8N14U06P].

The government said it had restricted movement of poultry for one kilometre (over half a mile) around the farm in Dunfermline, north of Edinburgh, and that 40,000 birds would be humanely destroyed with their eggs as a precautionary measure.

(Reporting By Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.