The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed today (Friday, July 14) that an additional two people, who had direct exposure to avian influenza (bird flu), have tested positive for the virus.
Both people were poultry workers who worked at two different premises and both cases were at different premises in England, unconnected to where there had been previously reported cases.
According to UKHSA “precautionary contact tracing was undertaken, but there is still no evidence of human-to-human transmission”.
“These findings do not change the assessment of human health risk, which remains at Level 3, the agency stated.
Dr Meera Chand, director of clinical and emerging Infections at UKHSA, has stressed that current evidence suggests “that the avian influenza viruses we’re seeing circulating in birds around the world do not spread easily to people”.
“However, we know already that the virus can spread to people following close contact with infected birds and this is why, through surveillance programmes like this one, we are monitoring people who have been exposed to learn more about these risks,” Dr Chand added.
She said that bird flu can be detected in people following “contamination of the nose and throat from breathing in material from the environment”.
But Dr Chand said it can also be due to infection.
“It can be difficult to distinguish these in people who have no symptoms. Following any detection, we will immediately initiate the appropriate public health response,” she added.
According to UKHSA detections of bird flu in farmed poultry continue but remain at low levels compared to the last quarter of last year.
Since 2021 there have been five detections of human bird flu in the UK in total.
In its latest update the World Health Organisation (WHO) said current outbreaks of bird flu have “caused devastation in animal populations, including poultry, wild birds, and some mammals”.
The WHO also warned that recently, there have been increasing reports of deadly outbreaks among mammals caused by viruses – 10 countries across three continents have reported outbreaks in mammals to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) since 2022.
