Worlds first case of bird flu in sheep detected in England
Guardian3 days ago
World's First Bird Flu Case in Sheep Detected in UK
Above: Female sheep (ewes) and newborn lambs during a bright morning in the village of Bishop's Itchington in Warwickshire, England, on March 16, 2025. Image copyright: Jacob King/Contributor/PA Images via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
The spread of bird flu across North America and now England since 2021 demands serious attention, but the risks of the disease remain high primarily among certain farmworkers, not the average person. The main concerns at the moment are economic, such as rising egg prices and livestock losses, and the lack of human-to-human spread has contained the health issue. There is little cause for panic if people practice good hygiene.
Narrative B
Governments can't be trusted to lead the public through this outbreak. The UK has a history of making hyperbolic doomsday predictions — from the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak to the COVID pandemic. Those administrations used faulty data to slaughter 11M animals in 2001 and force the public to lockdown in 2020. This new bird flu scare is showing signs of similar mandates to come, including mass animal slaughtering.