The head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said it is keeping a close eye on the threat posed by bird flu following signs of transmission to mammals. Dame Jenny Harries, who helped lead the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, said there is no new risk to humans from avian influenza but added it is being assessed by the agency.
Dame Jenny added that monkeypox also remains an ongoing concern. On Wednesday, the UKHSA released figures stating that avian flu had been found in 23 of 219 wild mammals collected since October 2021, representing a further nine cases since an update earlier this year. In addition, bird flu had also been retrospectively detected in a group of 10 captive bush dogs kept in a zoo, from November last year.
In a new briefing, the UKHSA said: “There are plausible routes of direct exposure to infected wild birds but investigations into the possibility of mammal-to-mammal transmission are ongoing.”
