The chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, said that a number of the 35 chickens at the premises had died and the rest will be humanely culled.
NFU chief poultry adviser Gary Ford said: “The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed that Avian Influenza (AI) H5N8 has been identified in a backyard flock of chickens near Haltwhistle, Northumberland.
“As part of the swift measures taken to contain and eradicate the disease, a 3km Protection Zone (PZ) and a wider 10km Surveillance Zone (SZ) is in place, centred on the infected premise. This will have a significant impact on the farms within the PZ and SZ because movements are restricted on and off farm.
“The NFU will continue to work with those members affected and assist in movement license applications with the APHA.”
Find out more from Defra here.
Are you in a zone? For details of this, and other AI zones, use the Defra interactive map here.
Public Health England advises that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency is clear that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers. Visit our AI Hub for all the latest information.