THE deadly avian flu strain was closing in on Britain last night after a dead duck was confirmed with the disease in France.

The wild duck was found at Ain, near Lyon, only 400 miles from Dover and 460 miles from London. A one-mile exclusion zone has been placed around the location of the bird.

A sample from the bird was being tested at the Veterinary Laboratory Agency, in Weybridge, Surrey, to check whether it had the lethal H5N1 strain. If confirmed, France will be the seventh country in the European Union with an outbreak of the virus in wild birds.

The French have already asked permission from the European Commission to start vaccinating geese and ducks that are kept outdoors in areas near the Mediterranean.

Poultry farmers in Britain were bracing themselves last night for a consumer backlash against chicken and turkey meat, even though the disease has not been found in poultry on the Continent and the meat is safe to eat when cooked thoroughly. British shoppers have been holding their nerve after panic about chicken on the Continent, particularly in Italy, where consumption has fallen by 70 per cent.

There are still no plans, however, to order the country’s 150 million birds indoors to protect them against the virus. Industry sources said last night the trigger would be once the first case was found in a wild bird on British shores.

State vets and wildlife experts are monitoring closely the coastal areas of northern France and the South East of England.

Kent is not a main centre for commercial poultry production but there are certain to be some isolated chicken farms as well as those who keep small flocks largely as pets or for fresh eggs.

Chickens were not locked up in Britain when avian flu hit the Netherlands two years ago.

Ben Bradshaw, the Animal Health Minister, has already given warning that the spread of disease through Europe made it more likely to reach Britain.

He said: “It’s still only in wild birds. It hasn’t been found in any poultry so far in EU countries this time. But, clearly, the closer it gets to us the risk grows. But the risk according to vets is still low.”

Peter Bradnock, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, was calm about the infected duck in France. “Crucially, it is not in poultry and has not reached any domestic birds in Europe. Biosecurity is the key and all farms are operating at a very high standard. If there is an infected wild bird found in Britain then the exclusion zone will be brought in and that will give us even extra safeguards.”

All poultry movements would be halted inside an exclusion zone and all birds tested. A single infected bird would prompt the slaughter of the entire flock. The senior government vet may also decide to close footpaths in the zone. But the Government is adamant that there is no plan to close the countryside, as occured during the foot-and-mouth outbreak that started five years ago today.

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