The Latest Breaking News from Avian flu

Birsay, Orkney: This catastrophe has global significance – at this time of year, Scotland hosts 46% of the world’s northern gannets

The Scottish Seabird Centre has released images that show how much the gannet community on Bass Rock has depleted since the outbreak of Avian flu in their colony.

In the UK, the disease was first detected in October 2021. As elsewhere, the outbreak was at first largely confined to poultry, and farmers were forced to cull 500,000 chickens and other birds

After a series of localised outbreaks in the past few years, avian flu has re-emerged as a major driver of bird deaths across the UK. Until the past few weeks, the latest outbreak of the disease – also known as bird flu or, to scientists, highly pathogenic avian influenza –…