The UK Government is ordering tens of thousands of doses of a vaccine to protect people in the event of an outbreak of bird flu in the human population, i can reveal. A contract to supply an influenza vaccine to offer immunity against the deadly H5N1 virus has been put out to tender by the UK Health Security Agency, to be held in stockpile in case of an outbreak. It would be ready for use from this December “in the event of zoonotic infections and for use in response to the entry of H5 influenza into the UK population”, the tender says.
The risk of bird flu to humans is still classed as “low”, as it cannot currently transmit between people. However, the move marks a stepping-up of readiness for a possible new pandemic if the virus makes the genetic leap to human-to-human transmission. Fears of bird flu spilling over into humans have been heightened following an outbreak in cattle herds in the US .
There have been cases of bird flu in some mammals, such as sea lions and mink, but the outbreak in US dairy farms is the first large-scale instance where animals that are in regular contact with humans had contracted the virus. Read Next Is bird flu present in the UK and should I be worried? It is also possible that UK poultry workers and others who work closely with birds would receive the vaccine as a routine to prevent them contracting the virus. Supplies of the vaccine would be in place initially for a year, the contract tender says.
Earlier this month, the European Comm.
