Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Matthews Farms, a U.K. poultry producer, said avian influenza was detected on two of its farms after an “unusual drop” in egg production.

The virus isn’t one of the “highly pathogenic” types and poses “very low risk” to humans, according to government advisers, the company said in an e-mailed statement. Health advisers don’t recommend workers be treated with the Tamiflu anti-flu drug, it said.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs hasn’t advised culling the birds and has imposed movement restrictions on the farms, which are in Norfolk and Suffolk in southern England, Bernard Matthews’s spokeswoman, Sophia Rehman said today in a telephone interview. The restrictions will remain until tests have been completed, she said.

The bird flu virus is often spread during the winter months, when wild birds tend to migrate, Rehman said.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza was detected in February 2008 in 11 wild birds in Dorset, according to Defra’s Web site.

More than 150,000 turkeys were slaughtered at a Bernard Matthews farm in February 2007 after a deadly H5N1 strain was identified at the site. The strain was also discovered on another turkey farm in Norfolk in November 2007.

“Laboratory tests are ongoing and there is no conclusion yet,” Defra said in an e-mailed statement.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Keith Campbell at +44-20-7073-3829 or k.campbell@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 26, 2009 12:31 EST