Poultry producers could soon benefit from tracking wild birds when assessing the risk of avian influenza to their flocks.
Livetec Systems is working to integrate data on wild bird movements into its Livestock Protect platform. It says this will help producers understand where cases of bird flu in wild birds are happening – and how this could impact their flocks.
“Despite the hot weather experienced over the summer months, the virus has persisted in wild birds, with gulls being a particular concern,” says Julian Sparrey, the company’s group technical director.
Infection levels
There were 856 cases of avian influenza in wild birds in 2025 to the week ending 12 October – with a large proportion of these cases reported in gulls, according to data from the Animal and Plant Health Agency.
“These birds are the sentinels for where the disease is in the country, and they are only the tip of the iceberg, showing a small proportion of how much of the wild bird population is infected with the virus,” says Mr Sparrey.
It has long been suggested that highly pathogenic avian influenza is spread long distances by the wind. But Mr Sparrey believes the bird flu virus is more likely being spread by wild birds as they move with the wind.
Daily travel
“A study involving GPS tags on gulls originating from the coast of the Netherlands highlights how far the birds travel daily – and potentially spread disease – while on the hunt for food,” he adds.
“It showed that once these gulls started ranging out to feed, they were coming across to the UK on an almost daily basis and ranging as far north as the Peak District for a couple of months, before heading back to the Dutch coast.”
Data from other studies shows some gulls are prepared to travel as far as 300km for feed, with a daily range of around 30km, says Mr Sparrey.
“These birds are a bridge species meaning they’re moving the disease around,” he adds.
Strong biosecurity
“They’re often found on poultry farms looking for water or feed, highlighting the importance of maintaining strong biosecurity measures and shed maintenance in particular.”
The hope is that integrating the findings from this study into Livetec’s Livestock Protect App could help better predict bird flu outbreaks.
Mr Sparrey says track daily movements of gull species could then be overlapped with cases of bird flu.
“For us, the future of livestock disease is all about prevention, protection, planning and prediction; we need to reduce reliance on stamping out as a control strategy. Being better able to predict when one might occur at locally will be of huge benefit.”