U.K. Detects Rare Human Case of Avian Flu in Southwest England

(Bloomberg) --

The U.K. detected a “very rare” human case of avian influenza in southwest England, the Health Security Agency said on Thursday, describing the risk to the wider public as very low.

The infected person had been in “very close, regular contact with a large number of infected birds,” the agency said in an emailed statement, adding that the individual is “well and self-isolating.” All contacts of the patient have been traced, and there's no evidence of onward spread, it said.

“While the risk of avian flu to the general public is very low, we know that some strains do have the potential to spread to humans,” HSA Chief Scientific Officer Isabel Oliver said in the statement. “Currently there is no evidence that this strain detected in the U.K. can spread from person to person, but we know that viruses evolve all the time and we continue to monitor the situation closely.”

The agency said the U.K. has recently suffered a large number of outbreaks of avian influenza in birds across the country, emphasizing the importance of monitoring them and the health of any people coming into close contact with the infected birds. 

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