In mid-May, as reported by the Veterinary Journal, the UK notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of the detection of the avian flu virus in poultry workers on a farm in the UK where poultry were infected with highly pathogenic avian virus (HPAI) A(H5N1). Another detection was reported of a second individual carrying out a culling operation on the farm. Both detections were later confirmed by additional testing as A(H5N1). Both cases were asymptomatic and were detected as part of a surveillance study. asymptomatic workers exposed to poultry infected with avian influenza.
All workers on this farm and their contacts have been identified; no contacts have reported symptoms and no other cases of influenza have been identified. UK Health Insurance Agency (UKHSA) has not detected evidence of person-to-person transmission.
Based on the available information, WHO considers it this is a sporadic detection of avian influenza virus between humans with no evidence of person-to-person transmission to date. Hence, “the possibility of international deployment disease through humans is considered low”.
Given the widespread circulation in birds and the evolving nature of the influenza virus, WHO stressed the importance of global surveillance to detect change virological, epidemiological and clinical data related to circulating influenza viruses that may affect human or animal health.
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