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"First UK person to catch H5N1 bird flu strain is named
Alan Gosling, 79, tested positive having lived with about 20 ducks inside his home in Devon
The first person in the UK to catch a new strain of bird flu has been named as 79-year-old Alan Gosling, a retired engineer who lived with about 20 ducks inside his home in Devon.
Gosling, who had about another 100 ducks living outside on his property in Buckfastleigh, noticed several birds falling ill shortly before Christmas, Devon Live reports.
Subsequent tests by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) were returned positive for the H5N1 strain of avian flu. They were subsequently killed shortly after Christmas.
Gosling then tested positive for general flu virus and the H5N1 strain of avian flu – a first for the strain in the UK. The risk to the wider public continues to be very low, health officials have said, but people have been urged to not touch sick or dead birds.
Gosling reportedly welcomed about 20 of the birds into his home as pets after he began feeding the flock."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/07/first-uk-person-to-catch-h5n1-bird-flu-strain-is-named
Alan Gosling, 79, tested positive having lived with about 20 ducks inside his home in Devon
The first person in the UK to catch a new strain of bird flu has been named as 79-year-old Alan Gosling, a retired engineer who lived with about 20 ducks inside his home in Devon.
Gosling, who had about another 100 ducks living outside on his property in Buckfastleigh, noticed several birds falling ill shortly before Christmas, Devon Live reports.
Subsequent tests by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) were returned positive for the H5N1 strain of avian flu. They were subsequently killed shortly after Christmas.
Gosling then tested positive for general flu virus and the H5N1 strain of avian flu – a first for the strain in the UK. The risk to the wider public continues to be very low, health officials have said, but people have been urged to not touch sick or dead birds.
Gosling reportedly welcomed about 20 of the birds into his home as pets after he began feeding the flock."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/07/first-uk-person-to-catch-h5n1-bird-flu-strain-is-named
