Recent reports of avian influenza outbreaks have sparked fresh fears about the spread of new strains among humans, but we often forget about the impact of ‘bird flu lockdowns’ on the work of rescue groups and sanctuaries, writes Claire Hamlett.

“I had to scale the fence of an industrial estate & climb into a bin to save her life because  @RSPCA_official told [the] finder ‘let her die you’ll catch avian flu’.” This recent tweet from Saffron Gloyne, a volunteer with bird rescue group London Wildlife Protection, accompanied a photograph of an injured pigeon. Gloyne is deeply frustrated her experience with the RSPCA on the risk of avian flu, also known as bird flu. “It’s ridiculous,” she told Surge. “[The risk] is negligible. There have been precisely zero reported human cases in the UK.”

The RSPCA says that with government advice having been issued very recently on bird flu, with outbreaks of the disease erupting around the world once again, there was a short period when they could not rescue birds, but now have been issued with specialist PPE equipment so that they can resume helping sick and injured birds. They advise that the UK Health Security Authority (UKHSA) and Defra are urging the public not to touch or come into close contact with wild birds.

The outbreaks are driven by the poultry industry which confines billions of birds, particularly broiler and egg-laying chickens, to intensive farms, where conditions are perfect for bird flu viruses to rapidly spread and mutate into potentially more transmissible strains, but restrictions imposed to protect birds are also impacting those who have managed to escape this cruel system. At the Surge Sanctuary, rescued hens in need of permanent homes are unable to be adopted out to homes within high-risk areas where heightened biosecurity measures are in place. In addition, anyone in the UK who keeps rescued hens in their garden has been required to keep them indoors if possible since November 2, when the whole of the UK was put under an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ). An APIZ means that it is a legal requirement for all birdkeepers within the zone to adhere to specific biosecurity measures.

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If a flock becomes infected, it is culled, unless the disease kills the birds first. Previous outbreaks have resulted in tens of millions of farmed birds being killed and international trade restrictions on live birds and poultry products. Wild birds who contract the virus may die too. At Lake Madine in northern France, dozens of swans have been found dead this week. Similar mortality events of wild birds have also occurred across the UK and other countries during outbreaks. But this shouldn’t be the case; in the absence of new, more dangerous strains emerging from intensive poultry farms, the virus circulates relatively harmlessly through wild bird populations.

While Gloyne is right that there are no recorded cases of humans having caught bird flu in the UK, the risks of bird-to-human transmission are worrying. Several cases have occurred in other countries in the past, including 21 cases of humans infected with the strain H5N6 in China this year alone. The pandemic risk of intensive poultry farming is one of many important reasons that birds should not be kept in such conditions. The disease has a frighteningly high fatality rate, killing around half of the humans who catch it.

But instead of addressing the source of the risk - the massive and growing production of poultry meat and eggs that can only be achieved through intensive farming - authorities simply react to outbreaks and blame wild birds for spreading the virus. Surge’s new video on intensive chicken farming shows not only the abysmal lives that the chickens endure, but starkly show why such places make it so easy for viruses to thrive. The animals are already unwell from being forced to grow too quickly or lay too many eggs, while living crammed together in unsanitary conditions. In addition, being handled, usually carelessly or violently, by staff creates opportunities for diseases to jump from birds to humans. 

Nothing about this industry is sustainable, humane, or healthy, and in both its direct and indirect impacts it is taking an unacceptable toll on wild and farmed birds, including the few lucky enough to have escaped a living hell.

Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.

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