Officials confirmed Saturday that the H5N1 strain of bird flu had been found in turkeys on a commercial farm _ Britain's first mass outbreak of the disease that has ravaged Asia's poultry stocks and killed more than 160 people worldwide, according to The Associated Press. The virus strain that killed about 2,500 turkeys on the British poultry farm was identified as the highly pathogenic Asian strain, similar to a virus found in Hungary in January, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said. It was the first time the deadly H5N1 strain was found on a British farm. Last month Hungarian officials killed thousands of geese after H5N1 was detected in the southeast of the country _ the first known case of the strain within the European Union since August 2006. Britain's Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Fred Landeg, said all 159,000 turkeys on the affected farm in eastern England would be culled as a precaution to contain the outbreak. The virus was found in only one of the farm's 22 turkey sheds, he said. Bernard Matthews PLC, Europe's largest turkey producer, confirmed it owned the affected farm near Holton in Suffolk county, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) northeast of London.
