UK detects case of bird flu in human

The person contracted the infection on a farm in central England, where he had close and prolonged contact with a large number of infected birds.

       

British health authorities revealed on Monday, January 27, that they had detected a case of H5N1 bird flu in a person in central England, but added that the risk to the general public remains “very low”.

The agency said the individual is doing well and authorities are tracking down all known contacts of the person to provide antiviral treatment.

“We have robust systems in place to detect cases early and take appropriate action, as we know that infections can spread from birds to humans,” said Susan Hopkins, the UK agency’s chief medical adviser.

British authorities have detected cases of bird flu on poultry farms in recent months and have taken steps to cull all infected animals
In the United States, the first outbreak of H5N9 bird flu in domestic poultry has been recorded on a farm in California, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) reported on Monday
U.S. authorities also detected the more common H5N1 strain on the same farm in Merced County, California, a statement said, adding that the farm's nearly 119,000 birds had already been culled.
Bird flu has spread across the world in recent years, leading to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry. It has also spread to dozens of mammal species, including dairy cows in the US, and killed one person in Louisiana.

The strain that has caused the most damage in recent years has been H5N1, with H5N9 being rarer.