Alert: Two Brits have tested positive after touching infected birds

In the UK, two more individuals have now tested positive for bird influenza.

The UK Health Security Agency said there have now been four positive tests this year – up from two in May – plus one in 2021.

Bird flu is ripping through flocks in the UK but there is no proof it can spread between humans

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The UK is experiencing a bird flu outbreak, but it is not known if the virus can be spread to humans.Alamy

The risk of harm to public safety is low, according to officials.

It is not spreading in Britain.

UKHSA chiefs say the detections are not human “cases” of bird flu because people are not getting any symptoms and there is no proof they were infected.

It is possible that they had bird poo on their noses, when they underwent swab testing. This test has become routine among poultry workers.

Four of those who were infected this year had worked in the poultry sector, while Alan Gosling contracted the virus 2021 after keeping ducks at his house.

Dr Meera Chand, from the UKHSA, said: “These detections can follow contamination of the nose and throat from breathing in material from the environment.

“Or they can be due to infection – it can be difficult to distinguish in people who have no symptoms.

“Current evidence suggests that the avian influenza viruses we’re seeing in birds do not spread easily to people.

“We are monitoring people who have been exposed to learn more about these risks.”

The new cases detected were not followed up by any other contacts, and the two people who had been exposed to them did not fall ill.

Avian influenza is devastating bird populations around the globe, including in Britain. It is also deadly to the birds.

The RSPB warned recently that seabirds in Anglesey and North Wales have been affected by a deadly outbreak.

UKHSA officials say the human health risk of the virus, known as H5N1, is at Level 3 out of 6, classified as “limited mammal transmission (excluding human)”.

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