The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus at a poultry farm in eastern England. Up to 5,000 turkeys, 1,000 ducks and 500 geese at the farm are being culled as a precaution.

Acting government veterinary officer Fred Landeg said tests had shown that the "highly pathogenic" H5N1 type found in the birds was "closely related" to outbreaks this summer in the Czech Republic and in Germany. Landeg said there was a lake at the site with a number of wild fowl on it. The farm is located in Redgrave, near Diss, in the south-eastern county of Suffolk.

The area was previously hit in February, when an outbreak of the H5N1 strain at a nearby turkey farm forced the culling of 160,000 birds. The H5N1 virus has this year been found in the Czech Republic, Hungary, France, and Germany.

"The initial sequence data suggests that it's closely related to outbreaks in the Czech Republic and Germany, which does suggest a possible wild bird source," Landeg said. "However, at this stage we are looking with an open mind as to the origin and all potential sources of the origin will be investigated."

A two-mile protection zone and a six-mile surveillance zone have been established around the infected farm in Suffolk. In these protection zones movement restrictions will be imposed and poultry will be isolated from wild birds to prevent further spread of the virus.

"In the restricted zone, all domestic birds must be kept indoors, and all gatherings of poultry and other captive birds are prohibited in England," the European Commission said in a statement. "Poultry cannot be moved (except directly to the slaughterhouse) and meat cannot be dispatched from the zone unless very stringent conditions are met."

Worldwide, the virus has killed 206 people since 2003, most of them in Asia, and millions of birds have either died from it or been killed to prevent its spread, according to the World Health Organization. Infected birds transmit H5N1 through their saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood, while airborne transmission to either birds or humans is not possible.