Top scientists join forces in a bid to combat bird flu following longest outbreak known in the UK

They aim to develop new strategies for tackling future outbreaks.

Professor Ian Brown, APHA’s Head of Virology and project manager, said: “This investment in a new research consortium will bring together the greatest minds from eight world-leading British institutions to address gaps in our understanding of bird flu, helping us to control the spread of the disease, while furthering UK animal health science and ensuring we maintain our world-leading reputation in the field.”

The latest outbreak started earlier than previous years after the virus continued to circulate in Europe over summer 2021 and led to over 100 cases in the UK.

It is hoped the consortium will be able to find new ways to contain future outbreaks, which will be a significant boost to the UK’s poultry sector and the rural economy, which has experienced a lot of disruption from this year’s outbreak with compulsory indoor housing measures put in place to protect poultry from the disease.

The UK Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss, said it is hoped that in time the research will mean a reduction in the impact avian flu has on the poultry sector.

The Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have both contributed £1.5m funding to the consortium.

Professor Melanie Welham, Executive Chair of the BBSRC said: “One of the real strengths of the UK’s scientific response to disease outbreaks is the way that we can draw on leading researchers from all over the country, who can pool their expertise to deliver results, fast.

“This new national consortium will study the unprecedented avian influenza outbreak to better understand this latest strain and how to tackle it.

“This will feed rapidly into Government decision-making and new strategies to protect the poultry industry and reduce the risk of future transmission to humans.”

The announcement was welcomed by the National Farmers Union (NFU) whose members have been badly affected by the outbreak.

The NFU’s Poultry Board chair, James Mottershead, said: “After the largest Avian Influenza (AI) outbreak the UK has ever seen this year, it’s good to see the Government taking a positive step to help the industry tackle the disease in the future.

“AI has been devastating for so many poultry farmers across the country, causing great distress emotionally, mentally and financially for farming families.

“We want to work with the Government to minimise the impacts of any future AI outbreaks so we do not experience another year like this one.”

Mr Mottershead added: “There’s still a lot we don’t know about the disease and hopefully this research can help us understand more about it, how we can prevent it, and ultimately put bird keepers in a better position to protect their flocks.”