While bird flu had already been detected in cattle and other mammals, including in the U.S., the infection of a sheep will increase concern over the disease’s spread.

The first UK H5N1-type bird flu case in sheep has been confirmed in Yorkshire as authorities intensify efforts to avoid the mass outbreaks of the disease seen in US livestock. The infection was identified after “routine surveillance of co-located livestock on a premises where avian influenza had been confirmed in captive birds”,