Government officials have asked ornithologists, hunters and conservation groups to help screen migrating birds arriving in Britain for avian flu.

Testing kits are being sent to groups including the RSPB and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, and the public are being asked to report suspicious deaths through a new helpline. The H5N1 strain of the disease has killed 60 people in south-east Asia and was recently confirmed to have spread from China and Mongolia to Russia.

Debby Reynolds, chief vet at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "The risk of avian influenza spreading from eastern Russia to the UK via migrating birds is still low. However, we have said all along that we must remain on the lookout for the disease. This surveillance programme is important to maintain vigilance."

Swabs for avian flu viruses taken from live and dead birds will be analysed at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, which is expected to confirm today whether suspected outbreaks in Romania and Turkey are attributable to the H5N1 strain.

The three-month early warning scheme will involve samples from ducks and geese shot at coastal sites and live birds trapped at Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserves. Species targeted include widgeon, teal, mallard and the tufted duck.

Martin Fowlie of the British Trust for Ornithology said the risk of migrating birds bringing the disease to the UK was small because most died quickly after becoming infected and most migration routes were from the north.