Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleEngland mandates bird housing to combat bird flu, with exemptions for small keepers. The outbreak is spreading rapidly, but human risk remains low.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain on Tuesday imposed a mandatory housing measure for birds covering the whole of England, effective Thursday, in a bid to slow the spread of bird flu.
The disease is spreading rapidly in Europe, with the highest number of countries in at least a decade reporting early outbreaks, raising concerns of a repeat of past crises that led to the culling of tens of million birds and higher food prices.
Two outbreaks at commercial poultry units were confirmed on Monday, one in North Yorkshire and the other in Devon, and a third among captive birds in East Sussex.
There have now been 23 outbreaks of the disease in the United Kingdom so far in the 2025/26 season, which began on October 1, including 19 in England.
Keepers of less than 50 birds are exempt from the housing measure, as long as any eggs and poultry products are for their own use only.
The disease is spread primarily by wild birds migrating south in the autumn.
The risk of bird flu for humans remains low, with most people infected having been in close contact with infected animals, but the virus needs to be monitored as it increasingly spreads to mammals, the World Health Organization says.
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Small bird keepers, those with fewer than 50 birds, are exempt from mandatory housing measures if their eggs and poultry products are for personal use only.
The risk of bird flu to humans is currently low, with most infections occurring in individuals who have close contact with infected birds. However, monitoring is essential as the virus can mutate.
Bird flu outbreaks can lead to the culling of millions of birds, resulting in higher food prices and economic strain on the poultry industry and related sectors.
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