On Thursday, Defra’s chief vet confirmed that H5N8 bird flu, which is circulating in Europe had been detected on a turkey rearing farm near Boston, Lincolnshire.

So far three of the six on-farm cases of this virulent strain of bird flu have been detected in Lincolnshire, including the country’s first on-farm case which was identified on 16th December.

The disease, which experts say should not pose a risk to humans but seriously affects susceptible bird species, continues to spread on mainland Europe, where the first cases in wild birds in Spain and Italy were reported last week, and the first on-farm case was recorded in Greece.

In France, the spread has been so great in the South-West - one of Europe's major poultry producing regions - that the government has begun a process of culling farmed birds in badly affected regions to prevent further transmission of the virus. By Wednesday, French authorities said they had been notified of 172 cases of H5N8 bird flu on farms and 12 cases in wild birds.   

In Lincolnshire, a 3km Protection Zone and a 10km Surveillance Zone have been put in place around the infected premises to limit the risk of the disease spreading.

The flock is estimated to contain approximately 19,500 birds. A number of birds have already died from the virus and the remainder will be culled. Officials are conducting an investigation to determine the source of the infection; although there is no evidence so far of farm-to-farm transmission of the disease in the UK, this has occurred in France, and can’t yet be ruled out.