The bird flu virus currently spreading across UK poultry farms may be the most infectious strain ever seen, a leading expert has warned, as farmers are urged to tighten biosecurity amid rising cases.
Professor Ian Brown of the Pirbright Institute, former director of science at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), said the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 strain is “as super-infectious as any high pathogenicity avian influenza we’ve ever seen.” He cautioned farmers to “prepare for the worst,” noting that early signs of the outbreak “are not great.”
Since the start of the current bird flu season in October, there have been 26 confirmed cases on UK farms ,22 of them in England. Entire flocks must be culled once an outbreak is detected.
The UK government introduced a mandatory housing order on Thursday, requiring all poultry and captive birds in England to be kept indoors to limit exposure to wild birds carrying the virus. Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said the measures would help “bring down infection rates from the high we are currently experiencing.”
Wiltshire farmer Sarah Godwin, who keeps 32,000 laying hens, said confining her birds indoors was “terrible but necessary,” as even minimal contamination could infect an entire flock.
While the UK Health Security Agency maintains that the risk to humans is very low, Professor Brown warned that the virus must be closely monitored for potential mutations. “Influenza viruses change,” he said. “We must remain vigilant to ensure none evolve to infect humans.”
