Occasionally, this can also be spread to humans but the incidences of this are very rare. There are many different types of avian flu, with the most well known in Europe being the Eurasian strain H5N1.
Cases of avian flu have been rising for several months and are now reaching high levels which are having a devastating impact on wild birds, particularly within seabird colonies. The strain is HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) H5N1 which originally affected captive birds and poultry but has now spread to wild birds. There is nothing which can be done to stop the spread in wild bird colonies, except for higher levels of surveillance in affected areas. The disease spreads quickly, and is often fatal, so the risk to our wild bird populations is high. Typically, this form of the disease presents suddenly with high mortality rates.
There is a lot of variation in how birds may present with avian flu, but many birds develop swollen heads, a blue colouration of the comb and wattles, dullness, lack of appetite, respiratory distress, diarrhoea, and significant drop in egg production. There can be considerable variation in the clinical picture and severity of the disease, for full information, click here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said that avian influenza is primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low. The regional UKHSA Health Protection Teams are working closely with DEFRA to monitor the situation and will be providing health advice to persons at the infected premises as a precaution. The Food Standards Agency has said that based on the current scientific evidence, avian influenza poses an extremely low food safety risk for UK consumers. Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.
Avian influenza does not affect all types of birds equally. Songbirds are much less likely than waterfowl to contract avian influenza and less likely to shed substantial amounts of virus, meaning they do not transmit the disease easily, with reports of songbirds being affected extremely low. Although it is very unlikely that avian flu could be transmitted to people by feeding birds in the garden, we encourage that you adopt good hygiene measures at bird feeding stations and water baths to minimise transmission and do not handle sick or dead birds. Good hygiene includes thorough hand washing with soap and water after handling feeders and cleaning bird baths/feeders outside using a dilute or mild disinfectant.
Lewis, N.S., Banyard, A.C., Whittard, E., Karibayev, ., Al Kafagi, R., Chvala, I., Byrne, A., Meruyert, S., King, J., Harder, T., Grund, C., Essen, S., Reid, S.M., Brouwer, A., Zinyakov, N.G., Tegzhanov, A., Irza, V., Pohlmann, A., Beer, M., Fouchier, R.A.M., Akhmetzhan, S., Brown, I.H. (2021) Emergence and spread of novel H5N8, H5N5 and H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4 highly pathogenic avian influenza in 2020. Emerging microbes and infections. 10(1): 148-151.
Nuñez, I.A., Ross, T.M. (2019) A review of H5Nx avian influenza viruses. Therapeutic advances in vaccines and immunotherapy. 22(7): doi: 10.1177/2515135518821625.
Shriner, S.A., Root, J.J. (2020) A Review of Avian Influenza A Virus Associations in Synanthropic Birds. Viruses. 12(11: 1209.
Verhagen, J.H., Fouchier, R.A.M., Lewis, N. (2021) Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses at the Wild–Domestic Bird Interface in Europe: Future Directions for Research and Surveillance. Viruses. 13(2): 212 https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020212
WHO/OIE/FAO H5N1 Evolution Working Group. (2012) Continued evolution of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1): updated nomenclature. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. 6(1):1–5.
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