The United States has reported its first outbreak of H5N9 bird flu in poultry on a duck farm in California, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday.

Following an outbreak of bird flu at a Shropshire farm, the entire county has been put into an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ). This means anyone who has birds in Shropshire must house their animals.

The worrying spike in bird flu cases has led to decision to enforce the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) as keepers will be required to implement extra hygiene measures.

British health authorities said on Monday they had detected a case of the H5N1 bird flu in a person in central England but added that the risk to the wider public remained "very low".

The UK Health and Security Agency says the risk to the wider public continues to be very low. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The human case in the West Midlands was detected after the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) identified an outbreak of bird flu (H5N1) in a flock of birds. UKHSA carried out routine monitoring on people who had been in close contact with the infected birds and were able to detect the case.