Hens culled after bird flu strain found on Scottish farm

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - The Scottish government has ordered a cull of tens of thousands of hens after a mild strain of H5N1, or bird flu, was identified on a farm in Fife, it said on Wednesday. "Laboratory tests have identified a very mild strain of the H5N1 virus and a humane cull of almost 40,000 birds has now begun," a statement said. It added that the flu was "quite distinct" from the pathological strain which has caused several hundred human deaths in other parts of the world. The government said it had restricted movement of poultry for one kilometre (over half a mile) around the farm in Dunfermline, north of Edinburgh, and that 40,000 birds would be humanely destroyed with their eggs as a precautionary measure. (Reporting By Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Richard Balmforth)