An egg producers' association says farmers are "absolutely worried" about the spread of the virus.

Bird-flu fears have prompted the government to introduced stricter rules around poultry - but there are fears that the UK could experience rapid egg price rises.

Since 2021, experts have seen bird flu — also called H5 influenza or highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) — spreading "fairly quickly" across the wild and domestic bird populations and, now, among dairy cattle, Martinello tells TODAY.com.

Almost 1.8 million farmed and captive birds have been culled in the past three months because of the spread of avian flu across the UK, the BBC has learned. There have been 33 outbreaks of the virus on farms and, on Wednesday, the government said bird-keepers in five more English counties would have to house flocks indoors from Sunday.