Defra’s latest avian influenza update for England points to a partial easing of local restrictions rather than a general rollback of controls. On 19 May 2026, the department said the 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone around a second infected premises near Great Shelford, South Cambridgeshire, had ended after disease control work and surveillance were completed. On 15 May 2026, Defra also revoked the surveillance zone around a second premises near Market Rasen, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire. Earlier changes in Lincolnshire followed the same route. Defra said on 11 May 2026 that the 3km protection zones around fourth and fifth premises near Gainsborough had ended, with those areas absorbed into the wider surveillance zone, and on 8 May 2026 it confirmed the same step for the second premises near Market Rasen after all poultry on that site had been humanely culled. A separate national shift took effect on 9 April 2026, when housing measures under the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone were lifted except in protection zones and captive bird monitoring controlled zones.
For keepers, organisers and supply-chain operators, the legal position still turns on location. Defra requires premises to be checked against the official disease zone map, with the rules for each protection zone, surveillance zone or other controlled area applying according to the holding’s status. Where restrictions remain in force, a movement licence may be required before poultry, eggs, poultry by-products, related material or certain mammals can be moved. That makes the latest update important in practical terms. A protection zone is the tightest local control around an infected premises; a surveillance zone continues monitoring over a wider area once immediate measures are eased. The end of national housing measures therefore did not remove the broader statutory duties on biosecurity, reporting and licensed movement.
The current outbreak season is recorded from 1 October to 30 September. Defra states that the first confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in the 2025 to 2026 season was detected on 11 October 2025 in England, 25 October 2025 in Wales, 12 November 2025 in Scotland and 9 October 2025 in Northern Ireland. In line with World Organisation for Animal Health rules, those detections mean the UK is no longer treated as free from highly pathogenic avian influenza. Across the 2025 to 2026 season, the UK has recorded 100 HPAI H5N1 cases and one low pathogenic avian influenza case. England accounts for 79 HPAI cases and the single LPAI case, compared with nine HPAI cases in Scotland, seven in Wales and five in Northern Ireland. That leaves the present season above 2024 to 2025, when 82 HPAI cases were confirmed, but below the 207 HPAI cases recorded in 2022 to 2023.
Defra’s guidance structure remains broad because the controls extend well beyond large commercial units. The department maintains separate guidance on spotting and reporting disease in poultry and other captive birds, reporting dead wild birds, preventing spread, housing birds safely, movement licensing, disease zone compliance, and the rules that apply to racing pigeons, birds of prey and game birds that are kept, released or caught up. The same regulatory split appears in the rules for bird gatherings. Outside disease control zones in England, gatherings of columbiformes, passeriformes, psittaciformes and birds of prey may proceed under a general licence if the published conditions are met. Gatherings involving galliformes, anseriformes and ratites require a specific licence. For organisers, breeders and specialist keepers, that distinction is not administrative detail but a basic compliance test.
Vaccination policy remains tightly limited. Poultry and most captive birds cannot be vaccinated against bird flu in England. The only exception set out by Defra is for zoo birds, and only where eligibility criteria are met and the Animal and Plant Health Agency grants authorisation. Defra states that only zoos or collections holding a current zoo licence can apply. The result is that disease control still rests chiefly on surveillance, movement controls and husbandry standards rather than flock-wide immunisation. Defra says it continues to invest in bird flu research and is working with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to monitor vaccine development, supported by the avian influenza vaccination taskforce. For most keepers, vaccination is not available as a routine control measure under the current rules.
On the risk picture, Defra’s published assessment places the risk of HPAI H5 in wild birds in Great Britain at medium, meaning an event that occurs regularly. The risk of poultry exposure is assessed as low where biosecurity is suboptimal or poor, with medium uncertainty, and also low where stringent biosecurity is applied consistently, with low uncertainty. Defra points readers to its risk and outbreak assessments, APHA outbreak epidemiology reports and weekly wild bird findings as the evidence base for those judgements. The wider public health position is more stable. The UK Health Security Agency states that bird flu is primarily a disease of birds and that the risk to the general public is very low. The Food Standards Agency likewise says the outbreak presents a very low food safety risk for UK consumers, and that properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, remain safe to eat.
For wild birds, the government response now operates as both disease surveillance and environmental management. Defra has published a mitigation strategy for avian influenza in wild birds in England and Wales for land managers, local authorities, ornithological bodies and environmental organisations. That work sits alongside weekly reports, interactive mapping of mortality findings and government posters intended for use where infection is suspected or confirmed. The rules on feeding wild birds are also more precise than many householders may expect. General garden feeding remains permitted, but hygiene still matters and feeding should be kept away from premises where poultry or other captive birds are held. Where an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone is in force, wild gamebirds cannot be fed within 500 metres of premises holding more than 500 poultry or captive birds. Defra and UKHSA also maintain the basic public health advice not to touch or move sick or dead wild birds.
The legal framework extends beyond birds. Defra states that influenza of avian origin in mammals is notifiable in both wild and kept mammals, and that reporting is immediate where a veterinary examiner, inspector or laboratory suspects infection or detects influenza A virus or antibodies in samples or carcases. In England, reports must be made to 03000 200 301; in Wales to 03003 038 268; and in Scotland through the local APHA Field Services Office. Failure to report is a breach of the law. Operationally, Defra says outbreak control is guided by the contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases, the notifiable avian disease control strategy and the mitigation strategy for wild birds. Alongside those controls, APHA continues to run ‘stop the spread’ webinars for pet bird owners, backyard flocks and commercial keepers. The statutory base includes the Avian Influenza and Influenza of Avian Origin in Mammals (England) (No. 2) Order 2006, later amending instruments up to 2024, the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006 and the Avian Influenza (Vaccination) (England) Regulations 2006. The latest position is therefore best read as a narrowing of some local zones within a still-active legal regime, not as an end to reporting, licensing or biosecurity obligations.