EXPERTS have moved to reassure people there is only a minimal risk to public health after a dead duck found in Somerset tested positive for bird flu.

The wigeon, discovered at an undisclosed location in the county, and two others that died in Leicestershire and Wales, as well as a peregrine falcon in Scotland, all had the H5N8 strain of avian flu when they were found before Christmas.

The advice from Public Health England remains that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency has made it clear that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers - thoroughly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

The UK's chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens said: “Avian flu has now been found in wild birds in widely separated parts of England, Wales and Scotland.

“This is far from unexpected and reflects our risk assessments and the measures we have taken including introducing a housing order for poultry and a ban on gatherings.

"We’ll continue to work with ornithological groups to further strengthen surveillance and our understanding of the extent of infection in wild birds.

“The risk to kept birds cannot be eliminated by housing alone. This virus can be carried into buildings on people and things to infect birds. Good biosecurity measures are essential. We also need people to continue to report findings of dead wild birds so that we can investigate.

“It is important to reiterate Public Health England’s advice that the risk to public health is very low and the Food Standards Agency is clear that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.”

People are being encouraged to report dead wild waterfowl such as swans, geese or ducks, or other dead wild birds such as gulls or birds of prey, to the Defra helpline on 03459-335577.