Tens of thousands of turkeys are being culled at a Suffolk farm as efforts continue to prevent the spread of a mass outbreak of bird flu.
Government vets say 50,000 turkeys have been gassed so far at the Bernard Matthews site near Lowestoft where the H5N1 strain of the virus was found.
reposted from: BBC Last Updated: Sunday, 4 February 2007, 20:24 GMT 
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Officials, who said a further 100,000 birds would be killed, denied they had responded slowly to the outbreak.
Sealed lorry loads of carcasses are being taken 200 miles to be destroyed.
Compensation
Government vets said 50,000 turkeys had been gassed at the farm at Holton, about 27km south-west of Lowestoft, by 1300 GMT on Sunday.
The cull is expected to be completed by Monday morning.
Fourteen sealed lorries containing the bird carcasses were travelling to a rendering plant in Cheddleton, Staffordshire, on Sunday evening where they will be destroyed.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed that the Bernard Matthews company will be entitled to compensation for the slaughtered birds.
The company could claim under the Animal Health Act 1981 the value of each bird just before slaughter as well as that of any eggs and property removed and destroyed, a spokesman said.
Investigations are continuing into how the disease, identified as the "highly pathogenic" Asian strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus, entered the poultry flock.
Some experts have suggested it might have been spread by wild birds.
The first turkeys died at the site on Tuesday and government vets were called in on Thursday after a vet for the Bernard Matthews company concluded the disease was "unidentifiable".
The authorities have denied their response was slow.
Fred Landeg, the government's deputy chief vet, said that although the company vet was called out on Tuesday, turkeys only began to die in significant numbers two days later, suggesting avian flu might be cause.
"The premises were immediately placed under restrictions and an investigation started," he said.
A biosecurity zone has been set up around the farm and poultry owners in the restricted area have been told to keep their flocks isolated from wild birds.
A three-kilometre protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone also remain in place around the farm site.
A much wider restricted zone covering 2,090 sq km is bordered by the A140 to the west and the A47 to the north and almost to Felixstowe in the south.
Health experts have been quick to quell fears the virus found in Suffolk could be passed on to humans.
The avian flu virus has so far killed 164 people worldwide - mainly in south-east Asia - since 2003. So far, all those who contracted the virus had come into close contact with infected birds.
Health Protection Agency chief executive Professor Pat Troop said the virus "doesn't pass easily from bird to human" and the risk to the general population from the outbreak was "very, very low".
But Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the government was taking the possibility of a human flu pandemic in Britain "very seriously".
The Department of Health had taken the advice of scientists and stockpiled enough of the Tamiflu anti-viral drug to cover a quarter of the population, she told ITV1's The Sunday Edition.
But agencies dealing with the Suffolk cull said they were confident it had been contained.
The virus has so far been detected in only one shed out of 22 at the site, and 100 of the 2,000 staff who work at the Holton farm have been given the Tamiflu anti-viral drug.
A spokesman for the Bernard Matthews company said none of the affected birds had entered the food chain and there was no risk to public health.
Jill Korwin, assistant head of Trading Standards for Suffolk, added: "At the moment we are very encouraged that it has been contained."
But United Nations co-ordinator for bird flu, David Nabarro, has said farmers will have to get used to the presence of the disease in the UK as it is "going to be in bird populations for several years to come".
For more information call the Defra Helpline on 08459 33 55 77
If you have any pictures from the scene you can send them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text your pictures to 07725 100 100.
 Scene of outbreak All poultry to be culled Visitors disinfected and restricted access 3km Protection Zone Poultry kept indoors and tested 10km Surveillance Zone No movement of poultry to or from area except for slaughter Trains carrying live poultry are prevented from stopping in the protection zone Bird fairs and markets banned Increased surveillance of wetland areas Domestic birds not to share water used by wild birds Footpath restrictions likely only on free-range farms People in towns not affected unless they keep poultry. Restriction Zone Isolation of poultry from wild birds Poultry movements to be licensed |
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