Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the risks of (a) bird to human and (b) human to human transmission of avian influenza.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with partners to monitor and investigate the risk to human health of avian influenza (influenza A H5N1). Our latest assessment of United Kingdom risk from avian influenza remains at limited mammalian transmission. Current evidence suggests the avian influenza viruses we are seeing circulating in birds around the world do not spread easily to people. However, the virus can spread to people following close contact with infected birds and UKHSA has introduced a screening programme to monitor those exposed to learn more about the risk.