London ? Bird flu has hit Britain.

Officials confirmed Saturday that some 2,500 dead turkeys on a commercial farm had been infected with the H5N1 strain of the illness – the highly pathogenic and deadly type that killed more than 160 people worldwide.

Officials said all 159,000 turkeys on the affected farm in eastern England would be slaughtered. He said the virus was found in only one of 22 turkey sheds on the farm.

Television news footage showed piles of slaughtered birds being funneled into an open tractor-trailer before being taken away for incineration.

Also on Saturday, the World Heath Organization confirmed Nigeria’s first human death from the strain. Nigerian health officials on Wednesday said several people had apparently contracted the virus, including a young woman who later died.

Experts continue to fear bird flu could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people, potentially sparking a global pandemic. So far, most human cases have been traced to contact with sick birds.