FARMERS in Fermanagh have been left in fear that a rapidly spreading avian flu could be transferred to animals and cattle in the North.

For almost 30 years, avian flu has posed a major threat to rural farming and fears are mounting after the deadly and potentially fatal H5N1 strain has been detected in cattle in America.

Most commonly found in birds, there has been a significant rise in avian flu reported in poulty sources and now in cattle in the United States of America.

Much like the start of Covid-19, it’s believed that the new H5N1 strain of avian flu was first detected in geese in wet markets in Guangdong in China.

The avian flu has travelled far out of China and dairy farmers in Fermanagh have now been left very concerned that their livestock could be infected.

“Right now it seems like the milking equipment may be one of the ways,” an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Dr Caitlin Rivers, told BBC News

“Scientists are finding very high levels of virus in milk. And so that’s why the milking equipment seems like it might be playing a role.”

There are also fears that, should the H5N1 strain of avian flu continue to develop and mutate, this could potentially cause danger for humans, as well as animals and livestock.

“As long as that human didn’t pass the virus on to other humans, then it’s sort of a dead end situation,” said epidemiologist, Dr Rivers.

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