RESEARCH UPDATE 2024: TWO NEW AVIAN INFLUENZA PROJECT PAPERS

A project on avian influenza (AI) in the United Kingdom explored the knowledge and experiences of veterinarians and backyard poultry keepers. The project team published two new open source journal articles containing the findings from this study in January 2024.

The first, Veterinarians’ knowledge and experience of avian influenza and perspectives on control measures in the UK, published by Veterinary Record, explores the results from a survey exploring veterinarians’ experiences of and confidence in treating avian species, experiences of dealing with suspected HPAI and perspectives on control measures in the UK.

The second, UK Flockdown: A survey of smallscale poultry keepers and their understanding of governmental guidance on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), published by preventive veterinary medicine, presents the results from a large nationwide survey of backyard poultry keepers. The survey explored keepers’ understanding of the clinical manifestations of HPAI, compliance with housing and biosecurity measures, attitudes towards obligatory culling on confirmation of HPAI in their flocks, and the potential use of vaccination to control HPAI.

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