Catherine Armstrong says the outbreak of bird flu is all her worst fears realised

A farmer hit by England's first outbreak of avian flu this season has said the loss of 32,000 egg-laying birds is likely to cost her business more than £100,000.

Catherine Armstrong, who has a free-range farm near Belford, Northumberland, told the BBC of the "shock" of her worst fears coming true when she found "a carpet of dead birds" in her barns this week.

The outbreak's source is not yet known but the virus is thought to have been brought onto the site, which has strict biosecurity measures, by wild birds. The farm's remaining poultry were culled.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has put control measures in place to contain the outbreak, external but warned cases were likely to rise.

Strict controls have been placed around the farm to contain the outbreak of avian influenza, Armstrong says

So far, there has been one other case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the UK, external, on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland.

Armstrong said her birds, which normally produce 28,500 eggs a day, which are then supplied to a range of UK supermarkets, began to die a week ago.

"At this age of the flock, you would tend to see the odd death but on the Friday my lady who works in the shed messaged me at night to say that 39 had died," she explained.

During the weekend, the virus spread rapidly, with more than 1,000 birds dead by Sunday night.

The APHA was contacted and a vet came out to carry out tests but Armstrong said she knew it would be bird flu: "In my heart of hearts, when you are shovelling dead birds out of a shed, you feel... well, I didn't need the results. I knew what the results would be."

By Tuesday, the virus had been confirmed, with thousands of birds dead. Within two days, all the remaining birds had been culled to control the virus' spread.

"All your worst fears, I suppose, are realised then. It is an emotional roller coaster. I mean, for instance, on the Sunday, I just felt numb. On the Monday, just a bit like 'Why me?'. Angry, cross, upset.

"On the Tuesday, it's a bit matter of fact. It's like, 'Right, we've got to do this. I've got to do that'. And on Wednesday, I was just desperately sad.

"Normally, you'd open up a hen shed door and there'd be 16,000 birds looking at you but to see them all lying dead, just a carpet of dead birds, is quite shocking.

Armstrong praised the APHA staff for their work and the wider industry for its support.

She said despite the high cost of the outbreak - which she estimated would be more than £100,000 - she was "not going to sit back and let it beat us".

Gary Ford, of the British Free Range Egg Producers' Association (Bfrepa), said the farm had high standards of biosecurity but "sadly, as was the case here, that does not always prevent infection as free-range hens come into regular contact with wild birds, which spread this dreadful disease".

He added the association would be calling on the government to bring in a regional housing order to protect "those poultry farms close to coastal areas and known flight paths of migratory wild birds".

Meanwhile, farmers are still waiting for the results of a recent government trial of a bird flu vaccine in turkeys.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that, while the trial concluded in August, results would not be available until the end of the year and vaccination would not be an option for this bird flu season.

Meanwhile, an APHA spokesperson said it expected colder temperatures and the arrival of migratory birds "to see a rise in infection cases, which is why it is so important that bird keepers have robust biosecurity measures in place to limit the spread of this devastating disease".

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the risk to the general public's health posed by avian influenza remained very low while the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it posed a very low food safety risk, with properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, safe to eat.

British Free Range Egg Producers' Association (Bfrepa)

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)