Health experts have been sounding the alarm about the potential pandemic threat posed by bird flu, which has been showing signs of mutating as it spreads among cows and infects people in the United States.

The deadly bird flu variant H5N1 is spreading more widely than ever before. In March, the virus began spreading among dairy cows across the US in a first. Fifty-eight people have also tested positive in the country.

Poultry at a farm near Beverley will now be humanely culled and a surveillance cordon put in place.