Second farm worker tested for H5N1 strain of bird flu

Earlier today another worker employed at the farm was sent for tests, the results of which are still awaited. The tests were a precaution, the Health Protection Agency said, adding that it did not expect the worker to test positive.

It comes after a vet who fell ill after helping contain the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk has tested negative for the disease.

The man, named in reports as Gordon Young, "will now be treated under normal clinical care", an HPA spokesman said. The vet tested negative for avian flu and normal seasonal flu.

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The news had triggered alarm that the H5N1 virus could be far more harmful and contagious than the Government and its experts have been saying.

To date, ministers and the Health Protection Agency have dismissed any threat to human health associated with the outbreak as 'negligible'.

However, it emerged last night that the senior government vet, who was involved in diagnosing the virus at the turkey farm run by Bernard Matthews, was unwell.

It is understood that the vet was being treated and monitored at a Nottingham hospital as a precautionary measure for what is described as a 'mild respiratory illness'.

The official - believed to have taken swabs from some of the 160,000 culled turkeys - was thought to have been given the Tamiflu vaccine as part of normal precautions before entering the farm.

Early symptoms of bird flu in humans are similar to a normal cough or cold - a runny nose and problems in breathing.

An HPA spokesman said last night: 'We have someone who has mild respiratory problems - a worker. As a precaution we are testing for H5N1.

'As I understand they have been working on the farm after the outbreak so this is not someone with a case of prior infection.'

He added: 'It is highly unlikely the worker has been exposed to H5N1 because of the strict precautionary measures followed. The individual had not been pre-exposed and was wearing full protective clothing.'

Since 2003, the virus is known to have infected 271 people in 11 countries, killing 165 of them.

Wild birds are considered the mostly likely source of the bird flu virus. However, the authorities are also investigating possible links between Bernard Matthews in the UK and a subsidiary in Hungary. Hungary was the site of an outbreak of H5N1 in bird flu among farmed geese last month.

A spokesman for the food and farming department DEFRA said last night: 'We can confirm that the vet concerned is an employee of the State Veterinary Service.

'All State Veterinary Service and contract workers are issued with and trained to wear suitable respiratory protective equipment, together with supplementary or integral eyewear.'

In a separate development, cat owners are being advised to keep their pets inside to protect them against bird flu if they live near wetland areas populated by ducks and wild birds.

Dog owners are advised to keep them on a lead if they are being exercised in such areas.

The precautionary advice follows evidence that cats, and possibly dogs, can pick up the virus if allowed to roam and scavenge among dead birds.

Meanwhile, the EU has attacked a host of countries which have imposed a total ban on UK poultry exports and eggs.

Russia, Japan, South Africa, Ukraine, South Korea, Indonesia and Barbados are among those countries which have brought in the ban.

The advice of the Government's Food Standards Agency is that meat and eggs are safe to eat provided they are cooked thoroughly.

A European Commission spokesman complained: 'Any generalised ban on exports from the UK is totally disproportionate.

'We will now be helping the UK authorities to persuade the countries that have imposed bans that their action is not justified and to get back to normal as soon as possible.'