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Migrating birds over-wintering in the UK could be to blame for bird flu outbreak, says expert

(11 January 2008)

A Durham University expert from the Centre for Infectious Diseases comments on the outbreak of avian flu in Dorset.

Dr Robert Paul Yeo, lecturer in microbiology and infectious diseases at Durham University’s Wolfson Research Institute, said: “The source of the bird flu in this case could be migratory birds over-wintering in the UK. The virus is now being increasingly detected in birds all over Europe so unfortunately it was not unexpected that it would, once again, appear in the UK. “The risk of someone being infected directly from birds is low, but we must be vigilant as humans have been infected, and some have died, in other countries. Those most at risk are those who work, or are in regular contact, with poultry but even then bird-to-human transmission is still very rare. “The main risk is to commercial stocks of birds and a repeat of last November’s outbreak. It reinforces the need for monitoring wild bird deaths for the presence of the virus. Hopefully the actions of DEFRA in imposing a control area will limit any spread of the virus. We now have to consider that the virus may be endemic in the wild bird population in the UK.”