A virus that is potentially deadly to many species is reportedly spreading across the UK. Scientists have warned that otters, foxes, dolphins and seals are at risk from bird flu.
Restrictions to prevent the spread of bird flu were lifted just days ago to allow free-range eggs to return to supermarket shelves. Bird keepers across the nation have been required to keep flocks indoors since November to reduce the spread of avian influenza.
As reported by The Mirror, supermarkets were forced to limit the number of eggs customers could buy. However, due to higher energy bills and increased costs of chicken feed and packaging, producers have cut back on output.
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Eggs labelled "free range" returned to shops yesterday (April 19) as hens have access to outdoor areas again. The Government said bird flu risk levels have reduced to “medium” which means poultry and other captive birds no longer need to be housed.
However, bird keepers have been urged to remain vigilant. Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said "it is more important then ever" for them to spot signs of disease and maintain "scrupulous" biosecurity standards.
Since late October 2021, the UK has faced its largest every outbreak of bird flu. More than 330 cases have been confirmed across the nation.
Bird flu, or HN51, often fades away in spring and summer but this wave is different, according to scientists. It instead impacts poultry and wild birds in the autumn.
Dr Jennifer Mullinax, of the University of Maryland in the US, said: "This high pathogenic virus is wiping out everything in numbers that we have never seen before."
Dr Mullinax and colleagues found the impact on wild birds and a shift from seasonal to year-round infections signal dangerous changes in the US.
The team also suggest bird flu will likely become endemic - potentially posing risks to food security and the economy. It can wipe out entire flocks of domestic birds within a matter of days, through birds' droppings and saliva, or through contaminated feed and water.
More wild birds than ever before have been killed by this outbreak - with sea birds being especially hard hit. The virus has been detected in dozens of species, including buzzards, golden eagles, gannets and gulls.
In Scotland, over 40 per cent of the skua population and thousands of Dalmatian pelicans in Greece have died. The UK's National Trust says between 30,000 and 50,000 wild birds may have died of bird flu on the UK's Farne Islands.
Dr Mullinax said: "This paper illustrates how unprecedented it is, and describes what we think is coming. It's really a call to arms saying, we can't afford to address this from our individual silos.
"Federal agencies, state agencies, the agriculture sector and wildlife management, we are all going to have to deal with this together, because we can't afford not to."
In the UK, a number of wild mammals such as otters, foxes, dolphins and seals have died after being infected with H5N1 bird flu. This is likely the result of feeding on wild birds which died from the disease.
Local authorities are telling members of the public to keep their dogs away from the carcasses of dead wild animals such as seals. H5N1 bird flu has also been found in grizzly bears in the US, captive mink in Canada and wild dogs in a zoo in the UK.
The UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said "there is a very low likelihood of any widespread infection in mammals".
The World Health Organisation says 870 humans have been infected with avian flu over the past 20 years, and 457 have died. These cases occurred when humans came into close contact with infected birds.
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