While Europe has been facing an unprecedented bird flu outbreak since November, a Briton has been infected with the virus in the south-west of England, the British health security agency (UKHSA) said on Thursday .
The case of the infected individual was detected after the identification of an epidemic of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza among his birds.
"The person was infected as a result of very close and regular contact with a large number of infected birds, which she kept in and around her home for an extended period," the UKHSA said in a statement.
The patient "is currently doing well and remains in isolation".
"Viruses evolve all the time"
"All of the individual's contacts, including those who attended the scene, have been traced and there is no evidence that the infection has spread to anyone else," he said. 'UKHSA which is still monitoring the situation closely. “Currently there is no evidence that this strain detected in the UK can spread from person to person, but we know viruses are evolving all the time,” said Professor Isabel Oliver, Director UKHSA scientist.
The health agency however wished to reassure, recalling that the transmission of avian influenza from birds to humans is "very rare". “Although the risk of avian influenza to the general public is very low, we know that certain strains have the potential to spread to humans and that is why we have put in place effective systems to detect them quickly and take them. measures, ”added Isabel Oliver. China announced last June a human case of H10N3, an unusual strain of bird flu virus.
Like other European countries, the UK is facing an outbreak of bird flu.
Hundreds of thousands of birds have been slaughtered due to this viral disease spread by migrating birds from northern Russia and eastern Europe.
Since May, outbreaks of bird flu have also been detected in nearly 40 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Last September, the French Ministry of Agriculture raised the alert level from "negligible" to "moderate" on "the whole of the metropolitan territory", following a case of avian flu detected in a low-lying area. court of the Ardennes.
