UK Confirms Bird Flu Outbreak at Yorkshire Poultry Farm, Raises Risk Level to High

LONDON, Nov 6 — The UK government has confirmed a bird flu outbreak at a commercial poultry farm in Yorkshire, prompting a three-kilometre protection zone around the site and plans to humanely cull all affected poultry. This announcement came hours after the government raised the national risk level of bird flu from medium to high, following recent detections of H5N5 and H5N1 strains in wild birds. The spread of avian flu, which has killed millions of birds globally and increasingly affects mammals, has sparked concerns about potential human transmission. The UK has experienced several bird flu outbreaks, including a major one in 2021.