The UK Health Security Agency is to ramp up testing of people who have been exposed to avian flu after the virus jumped to mammals - sparking fears that humans could be next. The country has seen the largest-ever outbreak of bird flu, with 208million birds killed.
The virus, which is usually only caught by birds, has been found in 200 native animals - including otters and foxes, reports the BBC.
There will now be targeted surveillance and testing of animals and humans exposed to the virus.
Internationally the virus has now been found in bears, mink, dolphin and seals. It is believed animals may become infected after eating sick birds. The animals were found to have a mutated form of the virus which could more easily spread between mammals.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency said there is "a very low likelihood of any widespread infection in GB mammals".
Prof Ian Brown, APHA's director of scientific services, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there was no reason why the avian flu virus could not pass between aniamls.
He said: “We have to be watchful, which is why we’re enhancing our surveillance in the UK to make sure that we can track and monitor for these changes, so Defra and the devolved administrations are supporting a programme for actively looking mammals that we believe might scavenge and feed on wild birds.
“We analyse those viruses if we detect them, and we share that data very rapidly with our public health counterparts so we can make clear and rapid assessments.”
He added: “If you analyse the genetic code of the virus, you can work out whether it’s come from a bird or whether it’s going from one mammal to another. So it’s about that dissection and looking in the genes of the virus.”
Asked about whether the Apha is asking questions about whether it could spread to humans, he said: “Yes and that’s what we’re looking for, that’s why we’re doing the work. We need to understand the consequence of this infection. Does it make the virus change by jumping its host? We’re aware those events can sometimes lead to that.”
He said “at the moment, we’re a long way” from the possibility that bird flu would infect humans in the way Covid-19 had, adding: “We’ve seen this jump, we’ve not seen maintenance in a mammalian species and importantly, we haven’t seen a succession of changes in the virus that tell us it’s moving more towards a virus that can infect humans. This still is a spillover, but we need to be watchful which is why we’re doing this surveillance.”
Since October 2021, there have been five confirmed human cases of the virus, including one in the UK, and one death, in China.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that, in the past 20 years, there have been almost 870 cases of human infection with the virus, 457 were fatal.
The UKHSA has warned the "rapid and consistent acquisition of the mutation in mammals may imply this virus has a propensity to cause zoonotic infections", meaning it could jump to humans.
It is developing new ways of testing people who have been exposed.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director for avian influenza at UKHSA, said: "Latest evidence suggests that the avian influenza viruses currently circulating in birds do not spread easily to people. We remain vigilant for any evidence of changing risk.
"There have recently been some detections of avian influenza viruses in a small number of mammals in the UK. However, the risk assessment conducted by UKHSA and partners did not identify any signals of increased risk to the general public from avian influenza at present."
The first man in Britain to catch bird flu was lan Gosling - who looks after wild ducks in his home in Buckfastleigh, Devon.
The Health Security Agency (HSA) confirmed a case of avian flu in the South West region one year ago.
