A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) declined to reveal the exact location of the farm, but said the case was identified “on a site in Yorkshire where bird flu had been confirmed in captive birds”.
It was confirmed, however, that sheep and poultry were being kept together on the smallholding.
According to BBC News, the spokesperson said the infected ewe had been showing signs of mastitis when she was tested. Her lambs had tested negative for bird flu, however, and following extensive testing, no further cases were found in the flock, the spokesperson added.
As the disease spread across the UK, Defra stated that 1,78 million farmed and captive birds had been culled between November 2024 and February this year.
The chief executive of the National Sheep Association, Phil Stocker, told BBC News that “mixing different animals is questionable at the best of times, but should be avoided when England is undergoing a period of mandatory housing measures for poultry due to bird flu outbreaks”.
Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “Farmers are understandably concerned that avian influenza has been found in a sheep. This remains a single case within what is understood to be a backyard flock, and no other infection has been found amongst the remaining sheep.
“While the risk to the nation’s livestock population remains low, it’s vital that all keepers of domesticated poultry, cattle, sheep and goats maintain high standards of biosecurity and remain vigilant for any signs of disease.”
According to a government spokesperson, “a small number” of bird flu cases had been found in humans in the UK since 2021”.
BBC News reported that all but one of these people had been asymptomatic, and all had had “close and prolonged contact with a large number of infected birds”.
Infection lead at the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Meera Chand, said the risk of avian flu to the general public remained very low
