Bird flu hits Gressingham duck site in Redgrave for second time

The H5N1 bird flu virus has been found at Gressingham Foods, near Redgrave, for a second time

A second case of bird flu has been confirmed at poultry producer Gressingham Foods on the Suffolk-Norfolk border.

Suffolk Trading Standards said it had been identified in a flock of 13,000 ducks at the Redgrave site where 35,000 ducks had to be culled earlier this year.

The company's Debach site, near Woodbridge, was also affected in March.

The firm's co-owner recently said the industry was in "crisis".

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The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the outbreak was confirmed on Thursday.

A 3km (2-mile) protection zone and 10km (6-mile) surveillance zone had been set up around the premises, it said.

It is the second time the site near Redgrave has been affected

William Buchanan, who co-owns Gressingham Foods, recently said the bird flu crisis, described as the worst ever and affecting birds worldwide, had been "absolutely devastating".

He told BBC Radio Suffolk he believed there was a need for a bird flu vaccine.

Defra said there had been 142 confirmed cases of bird flu across the UK since 1 October.

Farmers in the UK have been told to bring free range poultry flocks indoors to stop them being infected by wild birds.