Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the transmission of H5N1 bird flu to humans.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with partners to monitor, investigate, and periodically assess the risk to human health of avian influenza (influenza A(H5N1)). This includes monitoring human cases, patterns of transmission of influenza A(H5N1) in animals, surveillance of humans exposed to infected birds, and assessing how well circulating viruses are matched to vaccines.

Our assessment of the risks of A(H5N1) to the United Kingdom is kept under regular review and is revised when new evidence is identified. Updates to this work are published in the UKHSA’s avian influenza technical briefings. The UKHSA also contributes to the World Health Organization’s global assessments.

There continues to be sporadic human cases of A(H5N1) detected globally, including both mild and severe infections. The UK does not currently have outbreaks of influenza A(H5N1) in poultry or other captive birds, although sporadic detections continue in wild birds. The UK has self-declared zonal freedom from highly pathogenic avian influenza for Great Britain with effect from 29 March 2024.