Otters and foxes have been infected with bird flu in the UK
(Picture: Image by Sascha Zyballa from Pixabay )Avian flu is spilling over from birds into “scavenger” wild mammals such as foxes and otters as the disease spreads in the UK.
Latest figures show bird flu has led to the death of around 208 million birds and there have been at least 200 recorded cases in mammals, the BBC reports.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has tested 66 mammals and found nine otters and foxes were positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1.
The otters and foxes are believed to have direct exposure to infected birds based on their feeding behaviour and food preferences, APHA said.
But the authority said there are “no indicators of increasing risk to human health” and there is no evidence of “sustained” human to human transmission.
There have been “very small” numbers of influenza detections in humans “given the likely number of exposures”, APHA said.
APHA ramped up testing of avian flu in mammals last month, targeting those found dead near known areas of transmission.
So far this year two animals have been tested, of which one fox was positive.
There are confirmed cases of bird flu in species in the US, including polecats and badgers, a cat in France and a large outbreak in farmed mink in Spain.
Professor Ian Brown, APHA’s director of scientific services, told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme that the global spread is a concern.
He said: “We’ve recently detected events both here and around the world, evidence that this virus can on certain occasions jump into other species.
“To be clear though, this is still a bird virus essentially, that wants to be in birds.
“These are wild mammals, animals that scavenge on sick and dead birds, and there’s a lot of dead wild birds at the moment due to the bird flu presence around the globe, and those animals are consuming and being exposed to very high quantities of virus and that’s leading to some spillover infection.
“What we don’t have any evidence of is that it can then go from fox to fox or otter to otter, so these are what we call dead-end infections.”
APHA said in its latest assessment: “The apparent transmission between mink is of significant concern but there is no clear evidence that this has continued in mammalian species since the initial outbreak.
“The UK assessment is consistent with the international picture with the same or similar viruses detected in multiple regions, evidence of mammalian spillover, but very few detected human infections.”
In the UK there have been 279 cases of highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) H5N1 since the outbreak began in October 2021.
The latest detections were found in commercial poultry in Cheshire and among captive birds in Lancashire. The risk of highly pathogenic avian flu in wild birds is “very high”.
In November more than 40 birds were found dead in London parks, some of which from avian flu.
The outbreak is affecting mostly geese and swans, with other species being moved to separate enclosures.
The public is being urged not to feed the wildlife or handle sick or injured birds themselves.
