The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and Europe’s Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) issued joint advice that warning of a higher risk of bird flu spreading to humans and increasing the risk of a pandemic.
This follows biosecurity measures being upped in England and Scotland in the UK, with the north of England operating under an extended housing order. Avian influenza prevention zones were already in effect in England and Scotland.
UK poultry farmers' pleas to vaccinate their flocks have been blocked by officials, advising it could contribute to virus mutations and increase the risk of its transfer to humans. Slaughter has instead been advocated.
Experts have also warned that H5N1’s jump from birds to cows in the US had placed the world one more step along the line to panic.
Dr Thom Rawson at the Jameel Institute at Imperial College London, said it was inconceivable 18 months ago that avian influenza H5N1 could cross over from birds to cattle.
He also said peak bird flu season was now over, and it was likely cases would start to reduce.
However, reports of the virus continued to rise across Europe in the final quarter of 2024.
EFSA and the ECDC pointed to high-density farming, low biosecurity practices and deforestation as some of the factors increasing the risk of bird flu’s spread.
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