Although more than 150,000 turkeys have been slaughtered at a farm in Suffolk in England in order to curb the spread of the deadly bird flu virus, officials remain baffled as to the source of the outbreak.
The British Government has confirmed that the virus is the same strain as was found last month in Hungary, where an outbreak among geese on a farm prompted the slaughter of thousands of birds.
The Government has extended restrictions on the movement of poultry to try to prevent the spread of the deadly bird flu, but at present the virus does appear to be confined to the one farm near the town of Lowestoft.
The company Bernard Matthews, which owns the farm in Suffolk also has the largest poultry farm in Hungary, where a series of outbreaks of the avian bird flu occurred last month.
According to the company the two ventures are not connected in any way other than in terms of ownership.
The company declares that all poultry at the UK farm is British and they operate under high biosafety standards and the fact that they have a Hungarian operation is immaterial.
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) says no live birds had been imported from Hungary in the past year, but would not comment on the suggestion that some eggs may have been imported.
DEFRA says Bernard Matthews is entitled to compensation under the Animal Health Act 1981 for all healthy birds slaughtered to control diseases, including avian flu, to the value of each bird just before slaughter as well as for any eggs destroyed.
The Government says they are closely monitoring the public health situation and preparations are in hand in the event of a pandemic.
The Department of Health has stockpiled enough of the antiviral Tamiflu to vaccinate a quarter of the population.
A number theories are being considered by DEFRA regarding the origin of the disease, one being that it was introduced by workers who had accidentally stepped in bird faeces and brought it into the works; but this does not tie in with the company's apparently stringent biosafety rules.
However United Nations officials say they are not surprised by the outbreak and have been expecting the virus to spread during the colder winter months as it did last year.
Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations bird flu envoy says Europe should be ready for more outbreaks and he suspects the poultry could have been infected by wild birds, which can carry the virus without becoming sick.
Nabarro says insulating a bird farm from wild birds in the vicinity is incredibly difficult.