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Over the past three weeks, Great Britain is the only country in the region to have recorded new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in domestic birds.
Confirmed on June 11 was the first of four outbreaks in this population, based on official notifications to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). At each location, presence of the H5N1 HPAI virus serotype was detected.
First to be affected in mid-June was a commercial flock of mixed poultry — comprising chickens, geese, and ducks — in County Durham in northeast England.
A few days later, presence of the virus was confirmed in around 76,000 laying hens in North Yorkshire. Suspicions of infection were raised when mortality spiked, and the birds showed typical respiratory and neurological symptoms.
Soon afterwards, pheasants and partridges tested positive for the same virus variant at Wrexham in north Wales. Of the total flock of 21,000, around 600 of the game birds died, and the rest have been destroyed to prevent further spread of the infection.
Most recently, a hobby flock of 120 laying hens was confirmed with HPAI after 15 of the birds died. These backyard hens were located near to the coast of southwest Wales in Pembrokeshire.
No new cases have been reported in the country’s poultry over the past week.
These latest outbreaks bring Great Britain’s total for the year to date to 49.
Additionally, more than 40 new HPAI cases in wild birds across the country have been registered with WOAH since mid-June. All of these tested positive for the H5N1 virus serotype.
Overview of the HPAI situation in European birds
To date this year, 17 states in this region have recorded a combined a total of 250 HPAI outbreaks involving commercial poultry.
This is according to the Animal Disease Information System (as of June 25), and the figures are unchanged from the update two weeks previously. Administered by the European Commission (EC), the System monitors listed animal diseases in European Union member states and selected adjacent countries. These include Türkiye (Turkey), but exclude Great Britain.
For comparison, 451 HPAI outbreaks in this population were confirmed by 20 countries during the whole of 2024.
Outbreaks involved captive birds — including hobby or backyard flocks and zoos — are recorded separately in the EC’s System.
Also with no new outbreaks confirmed in the previously 14 days, the situation remains that 71 outbreaks have been registered by 16 countries in the region.
Among wild birds, the EC System records a total of 565 outbreaks in 30 countries to date in 2025 (as of June 25).
This represents an increase of 13 over the previous 14 days. New cases — up to five — were logged over this period in each of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway.
Two cases detected in Norway involved the H5N5 virus. All the other had tested positive for the H5N1 variant.
Quarterly review notes more infections in European mammals
In a review of the HPAI situation in the region for the last quarter, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) highlights an increase in the number of influenza A infections in mammals compared with previous years.
Over the three months to June 6, red foxes, otters, seals, and a domestic cat were found to be infected with the A(H5N1) or A(H5N5) viruses. For the first time, an influenza A(H5N1) infection was detected in a sheep.
Twenty-four countries in Europe recorded a total of 167 detections of influenza A(H5) in domestic birds, and 198 in their wild populations. In the same period, poultry farms in Hungary and Poland were hit by many outbreaks, particularly in ducks and chickens. This was attributed mainly to secondary spreading of the virus in areas of high poultry population density.
EFSA notes a decline in bird infections when comparing the study period with the previous quarter. However, the authors note that the epidemic peak in both domestic and wild bird cases in 2024-2025 reversed a declining trend in the previous two seasons.
Evolving viral genetics, human risk
In terms of virus genetics, the EFSA report found that EA-2024-DI has been the virus genotype most frequently detected in European birds since October of 2024. New genotypes found resulted from a reassortment between EA2025-DI and low-pathogenic viruses of Eurasian origin. Meanwhile, EA-2022-BB continues to circulate in some seabird populations.
Influenza A(H5) viruses with changes indicating adaptations to infect mammals have been isolated at several European locations, according to EFSA. The authors note that these adaptations do not appear to diminish the ability of the virus to infect birds.
EFSA reports that while human infections had been recorded elsewhere in the world, Europe registered none over the study period.
As a result, its assessment of the risk of human influenza A(H5) clade 2.3.4.4b to the general population in the region remains low. Also unchanged, EFSA assesses the risk as low-moderate for those in contact with infected animals or contaminated environments.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation in poultry, and on disease developments in the U.S. dairy sector.