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Government on high alert as deadly bird flu ‘jumps species’ – after first human death in US
The UK government has issued a stark warning after deadly bird flu was detected in a UK sheep for the first time.
The case was identified in Yorkshire during routine surveillance on a premises where avian influenza had been confirmed in captive birds.
‘The infected sheep has been humanely culled to enable extensive testing,’ an alert from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs read.
This is the first time the strain, called H5N1, has been found in a sheep in England.
However, it is not the first time it had been detected in livestock in other countries.
In January, the first bird-flu related human death was reported in Louisiana in the US.
The victim, who was 65 with underlying health conditions, contracted bird flu after being exposed to a personal flock of birds and wild birds.
‘While the current public health risk for the general public remains low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk,’ the Louisiana state health department warned at the time.
The infection of British sheep follows the first human case to be detected in England earlier this year.
