It isn’t clear where the virus came from, but it’s clear that a recent huge epidemic in wild birds has been causing the infections on farms, putting pressure on farmers and threatening our food supply.
“Disease on this scale in wild birds in Europe has never been seen before,” says Wood.
“It’s been absolutely devastating," he adds, "pushing some species to the brink of extinction. Gannets, terns, and cranes have all died in huge numbers. Lindisfarne, for example, was recently closed to the public because of the amount of wild bird disease on the island.”
Wood leads the University’s involvement in a new national consortium called FluMap, funded by the BBSRC and DEFRA, which brings together eight of the UK’s top scientific organisations. The group aims to better understand the strain of H5N1 causing this unprecedented bird flu outbreak - and find ways to tackle it. Their results will feed into government decision-making, and new strategies to protect the poultry industry and reduce the risk of future transmission to humans.
Wild birds typically spread bird flu to farmed birds by direct contact, or through faeces in farmyards or feed stores.
Cambridge’s role in FluMap is to survey biosecurity on UK poultry farms aimed at preventing infections in farmed birds. “We’re trying to understand what people really do, and why,” says Wood.
“Poultry farmers need to make sure their birds don’t come into contact with wild birds, by using netting or keeping them indoors. They can try and keep wild birds away with bird scarers, and not having ponds to attract them,” he says. “They also need to stop wild bird faeces being transferred in – by cleaning boots, or putting on new ones every time they go into a poultry shed.”
“It’s not high-tech, it just takes a lot of effort all day long. Often where there have been bird flu outbreaks on farms it’s an issue with biosecurity – so in part it’s a human failure.”
Outbreaks on farms seem to have seasonality, linked with the migration patterns of wild birds. And because birds can fly, the outbreak has now gone global. Scientists don’t currently understand the infection dynamics in wild bird populations, which makes ongoing surveillance vital.
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June 13, 2023 at 03:15PM
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Could bird flu spark the next pandemic - and are we prepared if it does? - University of Cambridge news
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