Farmer 'devastated' by bird flu

A control zone has been set up around the infected premises

An Oxfordshire farmer at the centre of a bird flu outbreak has seen his 25,000 chickens culled.

The birds tested positive for the H7 strain of the disease, rather than highly virulent H5N1 strain, regarded as a potential threat to human health.

Richard Court, owner of the family-run Eastwood Farm, at Shenington near Banbury said it had been a "devastating 24 hours".

A temporary control zone has been set up around the infected premises.

'Devastating 24 hours'

In a statement released through the National Farmers' Union, Mr Court said: "We have been on this family-run farm for more than 50 years.

"We alerted our vet to mortality problems on the farm and after careful monitoring of the situation informed Defra vets, who confirmed the flock has avian influenza.

"The source of the disease is not yet known and all birds on the farm will be or are being culled to help contain and eradicate this disease.

"This has been a devastating 24 hours and I would ask we are left now to come to terms with what has happened and make plans for the future."

Preventative medication

The control zone has a 3km (1.8-mile) inner zone and a 10km (6.2-mile) outer zone, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says.

In the inner zone, poultry must be housed and kept isolated from wild birds, and across the whole zone, movement of birds and bird gatherings are banned.

The Health Protection Agency said it would be following up those who might have been in contact with the infected birds to offer them guidance and preventative medication.

However, it stressed the risk to human health from H7 avian influenza was low and said it did not transmit easily to humans.