Another bird flu outbreak declared in UK as experts fear bug is ‘one mutation from pandemic’
ANOTHER bird flu outbreak has been confirmed at a farm in England, as experts fear the virus is one mutation from becoming pandemic.
The government said all poultry on the infected site, in East Yorkshire, will be humanely culled after a strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected.
A 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone have been put in place around the premises, to keep other animals out.
It was the 16th outbreak of the HPAI H5N1 strain in kept birds in 2024, according to the Nation Farmers Union (NFU) AI tracker.
Last month, the virus was found on Turkey farms in Norfolk, which led to the culling of thousands of birds just days before Christmas.
Bird flu, or avian influenza, has killed millions of birds worldwide.
The highly contagious bug is now spreading to mammals, raising fears it could trigger another pandemic through potential human-to-human transmission.
In December, an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Washington, announced that twenty exotic cats, including a Bengal tiger, four cougars, a lynx and four bobcats, have died after contracting bird flu.
So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans.
But this increase in transmission gives the virus lots of opportunities to mutate – a process where a pathogen changes and can become more dangerous.
Experts from the US recently discovered H5N1 is already just one mutation away from developing the ability to transmit person-to-person.
Scientists at Scripps Research in San Diego tested various genetic mutations on virus material from infected cattle.
They found that the Q226L mutation enhanced the virus’s ability to attach to human-like cell receptors, giving bird flu the potential to behave like other human flu viruses.
A recent case of bird flu suggests the virus might have already mutated to better spread among humans.
The case, spotted this month in a hospitalised Louisiana man, is the first “severe” bird flu case in the US, amid its rapid spread through cows this year.
Tests show the case involved a mutated version of H5N1 that helps it bind to human upper respiratory cells.
This could make it easier to spread between people through coughing or sneezing, raising concerns the virus is adapting to infect humans more effectively.
Bird flu viruses do not typically bind to a cell receptor in human upper airways, which helps explain why H5N1 rarely infects people or spreads between them.
It’s believed the person contracted bird flu from birds in his backyard.
Bird flu is spread by close contact with an affected bird.
This includes touching or petting an infected bird, touching droppings or bedding, or killing or preparing infected poultry for cooking.
However, bird flu cannot be caught through eating fully cooked poultry or eggs, even in areas with an outbreak of bird flu.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the human risk remains low, but urges countries to share information quickly for monitoring and preparedness as the virus spreads.
As of now, there have been no confirmed cases of H5N1 influenza in the UK.
The UK government recently announced that it had procured five million doses of an H5 vaccine, in case the virus does indeed start to spread between humans.
Bird flu: Could it be the next human pandemic?
By Isabel Shaw, Health Reporter
The H5N1 bird flu is running rampant in wildlife around the world and is now spreading in cows.
In recent months, it infected people in Canada and the US leaving them severely unwell.
This increase in transmission has given the virus lots of opportunities to mutate – a process where a pathogen changes and can become more dangerous.
Scientists fear it’s only a matter of time before one of these mutations makes it better at spreading among mammals – and potentially humans.
Experts recently discovered that H5N1 is already just one mutation away from developing the ability to transmit person-to-person communication.
Some experts believe the virus could already be spreading among some animal species.
So far, there is no evidence that H5N1 can spread between humans.
But in the hundreds of cases where humans have been infected through contact with animals over the past 20 years, the mortality rate is high.
From 2003 to 2024, 889 cases and 463 deaths caused by H5N1 have been reported worldwide from 23 countries, according to the World Health Organisation.
This puts the case fatality rate at 52 per cent.
Leading scientists have already warned an influenza is the pathogen most likely to trigger a new pandemic in the near future.
The prospect of a flu pandemic is alarming.
Although scientists have pointed out that vaccines against many strains, including H5N1, have already been developed, others are still in the pipeline.