The UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) today announced the country’s first avian flu detection in a sheep, on a farm in Yorkshire where an outbreak had been confirmed in captive birds.
The infection was found during routine livestock surveillance in connection with the outbreak. In a separate announcement, DEFRA said the ewe’s only clinical sign was mastitis, the animal’s milk was positive for H5N1 on polymerase chain reaction testing, and a blood sample was positive for H5 antibodies.
The captive birds and the ewe were culled to prevent the further spread of the virus on the farm. Further tests on other sheep on the farm were negative for the virus.
Need for vigilance
DEFRA said there’s no evidence of an increased risk to the UK livestock population, but it urged livestock keepers to remain vigilant and maintain good biosecurity practices.
Meera Chand, PhD, emerging infection lead at the UK Health Security Agency, said, “Globally, we continue to see that mammals can be infected with avian influenza A(H5N1). However, current evidence suggests that the avian influenza viruses we’re seeing circulating around the world do not spread easily to people—and the risk of avian flu to the general public remains very low.”
The detection is the country’s first in captive mammals since the virus was found in South American bush dogs in 2023. The bush dogs were kept at a zoo as part of a captive breeding program.
UK among European hot spots for poultry outbreaks
The United Kingdom has been one of Europe’s hot spots for outbreaks in poultry in the current flu season. From December to March, the country reported 29 poultry outbreaks, mostly at commercial farms, affecting more than 2.3 million birds, according to the latest avian flu update from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Food Safety Authority.
In late January, UK officials reported one human infection in a farm worker from the West Midlands region who had close and prolonged exposure to sick poultry. The patient had mild respiratory symptoms and eye irritation.
The H5N1 virus circulating in Europe belongs to the same 2.3.4.4b lineage circulating globally, with most viruses belonging to the DI.2 genotype, which is from than the genotypes circulating in US poultry and cattle.
Over the past year the United States has experienced outbreaks of H5N1 in dairy cattle in 17 states, with a few detections in other livestock species, including goats, alpacas, and pigs.
