Bird flu confirmed in dead wild goose found in Castletown Harbour

The wild goose was found dead in Castletown Harbour

A wild goose found dead in a harbour in the south of the Isle of Man was infected with avian influenza, the government has confirmed.

The bird, which was collected from Castletown Harbour, is the first positive case recorded since December.

The discovery follows the lifting of a surveillance zone in the west of the island in January.

An Environment Department spokesman said no new restrictions would be put in place as the goose was a wild bird.

However, all bird keepers were encouraged to carry out good biosecurity and prevent contact with wild birds where possible, he added.

A surveillance zone put in place in Patrick was lifted at the end of January after no new cases of the virus were found in farm birds in the area.

Those restrictions followed the discovery of avian influenza in poultry in December.

A large outbreak of the virus in wild geese killed more than 180 of the birds in October and November.

Cases on the Isle of Man follow the UK's worst ever outbreak of the virus.