UK turkey farms have reportedly been hit by a bird flu outbreak (Image: Getty)
UK turkey farms have reportedly been hit by a bird flu outbreak just days before Christmas.
The horror outbreaak has led to tens of thousands of turkey’s being culled, according to The Telegraph.
Since the start of November, highly pathogenic avian influenza has been found at 11 sites across the country, and is the first outbreak of bird flu in captive animals since February.
No humans have tested positive. The risk of spread among people remains extremely low.
However, officials are understood to be considering if a mandatory housing order is necessary to curb further spread of the virus, meaning free-range birds would have to be kept indoors.
What is bird flu and can I get it?
Bird flu, also known as avian flu, is an extremely infectious virus that spreads among birds.
According to the NHS four strains of bird flu have been known to affect humans including H5N1 (since 1997), H7N9 (since 2013), H5N6 (since 2014) and H5N8 (since 2016)
Although H5N1, H7N9 and H5N6 don’t infect people easily and aren’t usually spread from human to human, several people have been infected around the world, leading to a number of deaths.
In February 2021 H5N8 was found to have infected a small number of people for the first time, in .
H5N8 and H5N1 bird flu have been found in some poultry, other captive birds and wild birds in the UK.
H5N6 has also been found in some wild birds in the UK, but this is a different strain to the H5N6 virus that has infected some people in China.
The bird-flu outbreak comes as an estimated one in four British households are expected to pass on the turkey this Christmas Day.
A survey of 2,000 adults by Global Knives found millennials were most likely to be tucking into a turkey alternative such as chicken when they sit down to Christmas lunch.
Portsmouth was the UK city where turkey was the least popular, with 50 per cent of Christmas lunches avoiding the traditional bird roast.
In York four of out ten residents are opting for a turkey-free lunch, while one in three Cambridge locals will be eating an alternative meat or vegetarian option.
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