Bird Flu Strain Confirmed in Southwest England's Poultry

A strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in commercial poultry near St Ives, England. The government is enforcing culling measures and monitoring zones. This discovery marks the first of this bird flu strain in kept birds this season, amid concerns of spread to mammals.

Britain confirmed the presence of a strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus in commercial poultry near St Ives, southwest England, on Sunday.

The government has decided to cull all poultry on the affected premises and has established a 3 km protection zone and a 10 km surveillance zone. This marks the first detection of the HPAI H5N1 strain in captive birds this season, following recent cases of HPAI H5N5 in wild birds in the region and in continental Europe.

Avian influenza has led to the deaths of hundreds of millions of birds globally over recent years and is increasingly affecting mammals, raising concerns over possible human-to-human transmission. Britain has previously dealt with significant bird flu outbreaks, with the threat level raised to medium in October.

(With inputs from agencies.)