LONDON: Health officials in Britain said on Thursday they had identified a rare case of avian flu in a human, as the country battles its largest-ever outbreak of the virus among birds.

Transmission of avian flu from bird to human is very rare and has only occurred infrequently in Britain.

The infected individual, in south-western England, was said to be “well” and was self-isolating.

“The person acquired the infection from very close, regular contact with a large number of infected birds, which they kept in and around their home over a prolonged period of time,” the country’s health agency said in a statement.

“All contacts of the individual, including those who visited the premises, have been traced and there is no evidence of onward spread of the infection to anyone else.”

The agency noted the risk to the wider public from avian flu remained “very low”, but cautioned people not to touch sick or dead birds.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022