Bird flu cases have been on the rise recently, with reports of outbreaks in the UK, China, mainland Europe and Israel. Outbreaks typically happen in commercial flocks, such as in large-scale poultry farming operations – which is why bird flu is often only a concern to people working in these professions. But with a growing number of people now keeping chickens and other birds in their backyards, the close contact they have with their birds could potentially be putting them at risk of contracting and spreading bird flu too.
This was never more evident than when it was reported that a 79-year-old English man had recently tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu. H5N1 is a strain of bird flu which is mild in wild birds, but much more deadly in domestic birds. If it infects humans, it has a mortality rate of 53%. The man lived with around 20 ducks in his Devon home, with another 100 elsewhere on his property. While the man is still alive, the ducks were culled to prevent further spread.
