Experts from some of the UK’s top research institutes have suggested monitoring the migration routes of wild birds, to provide early warning of potential bird flu outbreaks.

Their recommendation comes after research cast new light on the roles migrating birds can play in spreading strains of avian flu around the world. Wild migratory birds were thought to be behind a number of outbreaks on poultry farms in Germany, the Netherlands and Yorkshire at the end of 2014.

Some strains of bird flu viruses are highly lethal in birds they infect and pose a major threat to poultry farms worldwide. Deadly bird flu strains – known as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) – can kill up to 100 per cent of the birds they infect within a few days. Some rare strains of the virus also infect people and can cause life-threatening illness.

Researchers from 32 institutions around the world investigated how a subtype of bird flu called H5N8 (the strain detected in outbreaks in Northern Europe in late 2014) spread around the world following outbreaks in South Korea that began in early 2014. The virus spread to Japan, North America and Europe, causing outbreaks in birds there between autumn 2014 and spring 2015.

As part of the EU-funded study, published this week in the journal Science, researchers analysed migration patterns of wild birds that were found to be infected with the H5N8 virus. The team then compared the genetic code of viruses isolated from infected birds collected from 16 different countries. Their findings reveal that the H5N8 virus was most likely carried by long-distance flights of infected migrating wild birds from Asia to Europe and North America via their breeding grounds in the Arctic.

The researchers said their findings reinforce the importance of maintaining strict exclusion areas around poultry farms to keep wild birds out. They also said greater surveillance of wild birds at known breeding areas could provide early warning of threats from bird flu.

Dr Samantha Lycett, lead author on the study and an epidemiologist at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, commented, “Bird flu is a major threat to the health and wellbeing of farmed chickens worldwide. Our findings show that with good surveillance, rapid data sharing and collaboration, we can track how infections spread across continents.”

Professor Mark Woolhouse, of The University of Edinburgh, added, “This study could only have happened through bird flu researchers around the world pooling resources and working together. We see this as a model for how scientists should unite to combat infectious diseases of all kinds.”