Bird flu strikes

last updated 8 January 2015

Holton, U.K.

The deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu hit a British turkey farm this week, forcing the slaughter of 160,000 birds. The vicious strain of bird flu has killed 165 people since it emerged in Asia in 2003. Every time it reappears, scientists say, it has another chance to mutate into a version that could spread from human to human. The British veterinarians who tested turkeys on the Suffolk farm wore double layers of protective clothing; even so, one of them was admitted to a hospital with suspected flu. Japan, Russia, and several other countries immediately slapped a trade ban on all British poultry, a move the E.U. said was “totally disproportionate.”