A market in Hong Kong tested positive for bird flu H9 after a child who visited the location contracted a mild strain. Health officials state the risk of a major outbreak is low.
A sample from Hong Kong's Wo Che Market tested positive for H9 bird flu, days after a two-year-old boy visiting the venue contracted a mild H9N2 strain. The risk of a serious outbreak is considered low, with the boy in stable condition and household contacts asymptomatic.
Norwegian authorities confirmed bird flu (H5N5) in a polar bear and a walrus in Svalbard, marking the first European detection in a polar bear. The virus is increasingly found in mammals, raising concerns for Arctic ecosystems.
Bird flu has been detected in a dead polar bear in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago, marking the first time the virus has been found in the species in Europe. The Norwegian Veterinary Institute confirmed the finding, noting a trend of avian influenza in mammals and its spread to new areas like the Arctic.
The UK has begun trialling an mRNA vaccine against the H5N1 bird flu strain, with the first volunteers immunised at a clinic in Southampton. The 4,000-person trial targets poultry workers and over-65s, the highest at-risk groups. While human-to-human transmission is not yet occurring, the UK Health Protection Agency says the strain is evolving across animal species and must be treated as a real pandemic possibility. There have been 116 confirmed human cases globally since 2024, with nearly half of all 1,000 cases since 2003 proving fatal.
