Bird flu scare in Wales

Demand for face masks could be about to increase if a second case of H5N1 avian flu in Britain is confirmed.

Vets are currently testing a suspected outbreak at a farm in Denbighshire, north Wales.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Assembly said: 'We are investigating a notifiable disease in birds at a location in north Wales.

'Reports are not confirmed and tests are ongoing.'

If the infection is confirmed as the H5N1 strain, it will be the second confirmed outbreak in Britain this year, following the infection of a Bernard Matthews Turkey Farm in Suffolk in February.

Protective face masks were used by workers dealing with the Suffolk outbreak and the clean-up of the farm which followed.

More of these could be needed if there are further confirmed outbreaks, requiring more quarantine and clean-up operations.

Experts fear that the virus could mutate into a form that will pass from human to human, which could lead to a pandemic.


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