Scientists from eight of the most prestigious institutes in the United Kingdom are developing new methods to combat avian flu.
The collaboration has been awarded £1.5 million to investigate measures to combat recent outbreaks of the H5N1 virus strain, which has caused severe disease and death in birds.
This strain of avian influenza has severely impacted the poultry business, resulting in culls and indoor housing restrictions.
Despite the low risk to people, there was a verified case of this strain in South West England in 2021.
There have been over 120 outbreaks in domestic poultry and wild bird populations at this point.
This winter’s outbreak of avian flu in the United Kingdom is the greatest and longest on record.
Scientists do not fully comprehend why these outbreaks have been more severe than in years past.
In 1996, H5N1 was initially discovered in domestic ducks in southern China.
The World Health Organization reports that between 2003 and March 2022, there were 864 instances of H5N1 infection in humans and 456 deaths in 18 countries.
The new collaboration in the United Kingdom will explore the methods required “to prevent future pandemic influenza from spreading to people.” The £1.5 million is distributed over one year.
The researchers will also be tasked with determining why the present virus strain has caused an outbreak to last longer and why certain animals, such as ducks, are resistant to certain strains.
They will investigate how biosecurity weaknesses may have allowed the virus to spread from wild birds to farmed chickens.
Vaccines against avian influenza in humans are being developed on a global scale in case a more aggressive strain leaps from birds to humans.
The UK consortium will not participate in the development of human vaccines.
Professor Ian Brown, Head of Virology at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), the consortium’s leader, told: “Vaccine candidates against all of these new strains in poultry are available, should one of them successfully leap to people.
“They are undergoing nearly continual change. We are concerned that they will mutate into a more contagious form for humans.
“That does not appear conceivable at this time… but we must remain vigilant.”
Phil Crawley, an egg producer and packer from Leicestershire, greeted the news of the study with enthusiasm. In November, bird flu ravaged his farm of 550,000 chickens; 90 percent of birds in one shed perished within four days, and the remainder had to be culled.
“I have never seen anything like it. It completely overpowered the APHA. This is the largest outbreak in the country’s history, so I am not mocking them. I sincerely doubt that anyone could have prepared for an outbreak of this scale “.
He added that he hoped the new group would provide answers to crucial concerns regarding the pandemic.
“What has caused this strain to become more prevalent in the layer sector, where it was formerly more suited to broilers (meat chicken) than layers (egg chickens)? How is the virus transmitted? Why has it been so persistent this season? Why has so much time passed? Why has this year been so brutal?”
The group comprises microbiologists, epidemiologists, virologists, and genomics experts from APHA, The Pirbright Institute, the Royal Veterinary College, The Roslin Institute, Imperial College London, Cambridge, Leeds, and Nottingham universities.
Christine Middlemiss, the Chief Veterinary Officer of the United Kingdom, stated that the rate and quality of research would be increased “hopefully in time to lessen the impact on the poultry sector.”
