A person in the West Midlands has contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has today confirmed.
The person acquired the infection on a farm, where they had close and prolonged contact with a large number of infected birds, UKHSA said.
The agency added that it had been tracing all individuals who had been in contact with the person, who is said to be doing 'well'.
It comes just days after the government ordered an avian influenza prevention zone (AIPZ) to cover the whole of England following rising bird flu cases in poultry.
The move mandates farmers and keepers to conduct enhanced biosecurity to mitigate the risk of disease outbreaks.
The current risk of bird flu to the wider public continues to be 'very low', with UKHSA saying there was 'no evidence of onwards transmission from this case'.
Bird-to-human transmission of avian influenza is rare and has previously occurred a small number of times in the UK.
The new bird-to-human case was detected after the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) identified an outbreak of the disease in a flock of poultry.
Following this, UKHSA carried out routine monitoring on people who had been in close contact with the infected birds.
Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the agency, said the risk of avian flu to the general public remained very low despite the case.
"We have robust systems in place to detect cases early and take necessary action, as we know that spill over infections from birds to humans may occur," she added.
“People are reminded not to touch sick or dead birds and it’s important that they follow Defra advice about reporting any suspected avian influenza cases.”
UK chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss said that while avian influenza was highly contagious in birds, the human case was a 'very rare event'.
“We took swift action to limit the spread at the site in question, all infected birds are being humanely culled, and cleansing and disinfection of the premises will be undertaken all to strict biosecure standards.
"This is a reminder that stringent biosecurity is essential when keeping animals," Ms Middlemiss explained.
There has been a growing number of avian influenza cases in birds on both commercial farms and in backyard flocks across the country in recent weeks.
Farmers and keepers have been told to implement scrupulous biosecurity measures to help protect the health and welfare of birds from the threat of the disease.
Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention, said the safety of the public was 'paramount' and that the situation was being monitored 'closely'.
He said: “The risk of wider or onward transmission is very low, however the UK remains prepared and ready to respond to any current and future health threats.
“We recently added the H5 vaccine, which protects against avian influenza, to our stockpile as part of our preparedness plans.”
UKHSA said it would publish further details about the confirmed human case in due course.
