A human has contracted bird flu in the UK, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed.
The unidentified person, based in the south west of England, tested positive for the avian flu after coming into close contact with a large number of infected birds.
The person is said to have kept the birds in and around their home over a prolonged period of time.
They are now isolating at home and there is no evidence of onward transmission to anyone else following contact tracing.
People have now been not to touch sick or dead birds after the first human case of “H5” type bird flu was identified.
It is "extremely rare" for avian flu to pass from birds to humans, the agency said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the UKHSA said: “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.
"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 individual is currently well and self-isolating. The risk to the wider public from avian flu continues to be very low."
The person was swabbed and low levels of flu were detected before laboratory analysis revealed the virus was the H5 type.
However, it is not currently possible to confirm if it is the H5N1 infection currently circulating.
Based on the available evidence, the World Health Organisation has been notified and the infected birds have all been culled, according to reports.
A number of outbreaks of bird flu have been detected among the avian population across Asia and Europe between October and the end of December - which has led to millions of birds being culled.
H5N1 - the strain currently circulating in birds in the UK - has also been confirmed at a number of premises in Scotland - with cases identified in Dumfriesshire and Angus, according to the UK Government.
Bird to human transmission of avian flu is very rare and has only occurred a small number of times in the UK previously.
An animal health expert has claimed that the recent outbreaks of the virus could an increased risk of transmission in humans due to a high number of variants.
Monique Eloit, who is the Director General at the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), told Reuters: “This time the situation is more difficult and more risk because we see more variants emerge, which make them harder to follow.
“Eventually the risk is that it mutates or that it mixes with human flu virus that can be transmitted between humans then suddenly is takes on a new dimension.”
Outbreaks of avian influenza generally starts in the autumn when the infection is spread by migrating wild birds.
H5N1 is one of the few bird flu strains that has passed to humans. In total around 850 people have been reported to be infected with the strain, of which half died, the OIE said.
Last year several people were infected by the H5N6 strain in China, raising concern among some experts, who say a previously circulating strain appears to have changed and may be more infectious to people.
Eloit stressed, however, that most countries had learned to contain outbreaks and transmissions to humans would be sporadic as bird flu is usually passed through close contact.
"If there are one, two or three humans infected it is worrying but it is not necessary to cry wolf too quickly about the risks of extension. It will depend on how the people have been infected," she said.
Measures to limit the spread of bird flu in Scotland have been in place since November 2021.
It is currently a legal requirement for all bird keepers across the UK - whether they have pet birds, commercial flocks or just a few birds in a backyard flock - to keep their birds indoors and follow strict biosecurity measures to limit the spread of the disease.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said that avian influenza is primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low.
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