Thousands of birds dying from lethal strain of avian flu

Thousands of seabirds in colonies across the country are dying with bird flu, washing up along our east coast from Scotland down to Suffolk.

A lethal strain of the virus has found its way from poultry into seabirds and it’s been spreading fast over the last few weeks.

Defra has set up a taskforce to look at the spread and to try to prevent the deadly H5N1 from becoming pandemic.

A warning, this report contains images of animal suffering.