BIRD flu has been confirmed in Herefordshire for a fourth time this winter, with a 10-kilometre surveillance zone set up to prevent it from spreading.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said all bird flu had been found at 82 sites in England since November.

Now, one of the latest on that list is a site near Ledbury.

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The Government department gave a map reference where the three-kilometre protection zone and 10-kilometre surveillance zone centre around.

And it appears to be in Eastnor, a village near the market town.

Hereford Times: The bird flu control zones around Ledbury. Picture: DefraThe bird flu control zones around Ledbury. Picture: Defra

The two zones, which extend as far as a 10-kilometre radius of the site, are to prevent the flu from spreading.

The 10-kilometre control zones mean 314.2 square kilometres of Herefordshire, as well as across the border into Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, must follow certain rules surrounding poultry.

The strain of avian flu found at the site is H5N1 – which has previously been found at sites in Clifford, near Hay-on-Wye, Shobdon, near Leominster and Ross-on-Wye.

The control zones for the Clifford and Shobdon sites are no longer in force.

The NHS said the strain does not infect people easily and is not usually spread from human to human.

But several people have been infected around the world, leading to a number of deaths, it said.

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DEFRA said from November 29 it would be a legal requirement for all bird keepers across the UK to keep their birds indoors and to follow strict biosecurity measures in order to limit the spread of and eradicate the disease.

Wild birds migrating to the UK from mainland Europe during the winter months can carry the disease and this can lead to cases in poultry and other captive birds, it said.

Public health advice remains that the risk to human health from the virus is very low and food standards bodies advise that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers.

But people are told not to touch or pick up any dead or sick birds that they find and instead report them by calling 03000 200 301.

"There is no impact on the consumption of properly cooked poultry products including eggs," DEFRA said.

The two zones have rules which will affect the movement of birds and eggs, the removal of litter, manure and slurry, and other biosecurity measures.

The measures came into force at 7pm on Friday after being approved by the Secretary of State.

For full guidance, visit the Government website here.