The strain of bird flu detected on a duck breeding farm in East Yorkshire on Sunday has been identified as H5N8, the same strain that was discovered in the Netherlands last week.

The strain is "highly pathogenic" for birds though Defra said on Tuesday that the outbreak poses "A very low risk to human health and no risk to the food chain."

Though the virus can be transmitted to humans, this would require very close contact with infected birds.

The EU Commission, which hypothesised on Monday that "The information available indicates that the H5 virus in the UK is probably identical to the H5N8 HPAI virus found in The Netherlands and in Germany," said all available information "[Points] towards wild migratory birds as a possible source of [the] virus. A species of wild swans might be carrying the virus without showing signs of disease."

A statement released by Defra on Tuesday read, "The culling of 6,000 ducks is underway on the affected farm in east Yorkshire… being carried out in a safe and humane manner by fully trained APHA staff."

In addition to the cull, a restriction zone has been put in place over a 10km radius surrounding the farm where the bird flu was detected. All poultry must be housed or isolated within the zone and the movement of birds is banned.

Investigations are now ongoing to discover whether the outbreak is linked to cases found in Netherlands and Germany with further test results expected over the coming days.