BIRD flu has been confirmed at a site on the Herefordshire border, 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 99 sites in England since November.

Those include sites at Eastnor, Clifford, Shobdon and Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, but restrictions have since been relaxed.

Now, from June 1, there are new restrictions for a huge part of north Herefordshire and south Shropshire after a case was confirmed near Ludlow.

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

The site appears to be a farm between Richards Castle, in Herefordshire, and Ashford Bowdler in Shropshire.

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

Hereford Times: The new control zones around the site near LudlowThe new control zones around the site near Ludlow

The 10-kilometre control zones mean 314.2 square kilometres of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire must follow certain rules surrounding poultry.

The strain of avian flu found at the site is H5N1.

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.

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.

But that country-wide measure has since been dropped.

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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 5pm on Wednesday after being approved by the Secretary of State.

For full guidance, visit the Government website here.