Public Health Note: Bird Flu

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advise that the risk to humas from this bird flu strain is very low. Bird flu does not easily infect people. Currently, there is no evidence that this disease is transmitting from human to human, so only people who are in close contact with birds that are infected are at risk. A UKHSA technical briefing has been published with several scenarios where bird flu has mutated in different ways that would make it more dangerous. The purpose of this technical briefing is to help establish the best surveillance strategy to monitor the current outbreak and any changes in the virus that would make it more dangerous to humans. The contents of this report should not be treated as predictions for how the current outbreak will evolve.

People catch bird flu through close contact with infected birds or bird droppings that result in infectious material coming into contact with the person’s mouth, nose or eyes. There is no evidence that eating properly cooked poultry is associated with any risk of catching bird flu.

Recently, two people in Cambodia died from a strain of bird flu that is often found circulating in birds in that region. There is no evidence that human to human spread happened in this case, or is happening with this strain of bird flu, or that that would indicate a risk to people in the UK. In January 2022, a man in the UK who shared his house with numerous wild and domesticate ducks caught bird flu. This is the only case of the disease in humans in the UK in the current outbreak, and is unlikely to indicate the risk to the general population here has changed.

There is no vaccine against bird flu for humans. There are vaccines for birds, but these are generally only administered to birds in zoos, as it is felt that for commercial poultry populations, disease is better controlled by other means such as culling. Human cases of avian flu are very rare but when they do occur, they can be severe. Avian flu can be treated with regular flu antiviral drugs, and the sooner treatment is started, the better the prognosis.

The current outbreak of bird flu is decimating wild bird and poultry populations. It has also spread to some mammals which interact with infected birds, including foxes in the UK. The surge in cases is believed to be due to a more severe and infectious strain of the virus circulating. In addition, changing weather patterns have caused infected birds to migrate to different places, including to new locations where the local birds have high susceptibility to the disease. Many of the migratory birds carrying the disease to new locations are symptomless.

Bird flu has now been reported among poultry in England, Scotland, and Wales. Outbreaks have been contained by standard infection control protocols for poultry disease. However, because wild birds are also infected, it is difficult to prevent new outbreaks. It is likely there will continue to be cases of bird flu among poultry and wild birds in the UK, and there are many cases in Europe.

• If you feel ill you should stay at home to avoid spreading your disease to others
• Seasonal flu vaccines don’t prevent people catching or transmitting bird flu, but they can reduce the risk of you getting sick with human and bird flu viruses simultaneously.

• People who keep birds need to take precautions to prevent the spread of bird flu which are laid out by the government, see links below.
• People should continue to take the precautions generally advised for dealing with bird droppings. These contain various pathogens that can make you sick, even when avian influenza is not a risk.
• People should avoid disturbing bird nests.
• Don’t touch dead birds.