Last Week, Two Cases of Bird Flu detected in UK

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

#UnitedKingdom, June 12, 2023 – The United Kingdom has recorded two cases of avian influenza or ‘bird flu’ in humans but the public is being assured that the risk of spread is extremely low.  The World Health Organization (WHO) shared the news in a May 30th bulletin.  According to the WHO, the UK found a single poultry worker who tested positive for the infection in mid-May.  The birds on the corresponding farm were reportedly already ill.

In the midst of culling the birds to prevent further spread, another worker was infected. The two workers had no symptoms and were only detected because of an increased surveillance study.

The US Centres for Disease Control says “Human infections with bird flu viruses can happen when the virus gets into a person’s eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled. This can happen when the virus is in the air (in droplets or possibly dust) and a person breathes it in, or possibly when a person touches something that has virus on it and then touches their mouth, eyes or nose.”

The UK says all the workers at the infected farm and their contacts have been identified and so far, no other influenza cases have been identified. It is not being declared an outbreak yet and the WHO says there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission, making the likelihood of international disease spread through humans low.