Following the spread of the deadly H5N1 form of the virus across Europe, the Middle East and southeast Asia on Saturday, the British government is deeply concerned of the prospect of bird flu reaching Britain.

The government admitted on Saturday that it is increasingly likely that bird flu will arrive in Britain, as the National Farmers' Union (NFU) told members to prepare to take poultry indoors at short notice, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Samples from a duck that died of bird flu near Lyon, France, have been sent for tests to a laboratory in Weybridge, southern England. If they are found to have died from the H5N1 virus, then deadly bird flu is just 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Britain.

Over the past decade, H5N1 has spread from Asia to Europe and Africa. The first occurrence in humans was in Hong Kong in 1997. Since then, it has infected 169 people, killing at least 91. Millions of birds have been destroyed.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that the discovery of bird flu in France "increases the likelihood" of it arriving here.

"We have robust surveillance measures in place and have taken more than 3,500 samples from wild birds, which so far have not detected H5N1 in the UK," said Fred Landeg, Britain's deputy chief veterinary officer. Defra would continue to monitor the situation, he said, and encouraged the public to report unusual wild bird deaths.

The Farmers' Union suggested that farmers bring their poultry flocks indoors within a day if necessary. Farmers have also been asked to look out for any dead or sick-looking birds.

The British government has meted out plans for exclusion zone if any wild bird is found to be infected with H5N1. If any poultry was found to be infected the entire flock would face being culled.

The government is still considering whether to vaccinate the country's entire stock of 150 million poultry for fear that poultry export might be banned as a result.

Source: Xinhua