UK raises risk level of bird flu to high from medium

The United Kingdom has increased the risk level of bird flu from medium to high after two different strains of the virus, H5N5 and H5N1, were detected in wild birds in the country over the autumn, according to a government update.

Bird flu, or avian influenza, which has killed hundreds of millions birds around the globe in recent years, has increasingly spread to mammals, raising concern it may lead to human-to-human transmission.

The UK, which had increased the threat level to medium in mid-October, has over the years experienced several bird flu outbreaks, including one in 2021 that was then described as the largest-ever in the country.