“It’s back up here,” was the blunt message on Sunday as bird flu re‑emerged across the North. Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) confirmed H5N1 at a large site near Bedale in North Yorkshire and at a second premises near Penrith in Cumbria on 25 October, with a captive‑bird case near Burscough in West Lancashire on 24 October. A further commercial outbreak was reported today, 26 October, near Lakenheath in Suffolk, while England remains under an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ).

In North Yorkshire, H5N1 was confirmed at a large commercial poultry premises near Bedale in the Thirsk and Malton area on 25 October. A 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone are now in force and all poultry on the premises will be humanely culled, Defra said.

Cumbria recorded a second affected premises near Penrith, Westmorland and Furness, also confirmed on 25 October. The same restrictions apply: a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone, alongside a cull of birds on the site to contain the disease.

In West Lancashire, the confirmation on 24 October concerned other captive birds at a premises near Burscough. A 3km Captive Bird (Monitoring) Controlled Zone is in place around the site, with different rules to commercial poultry control zones but the same emphasis on strict biosecurity.

Across England, the AIPZ remains in force with mandatory biosecurity measures. The declaration was updated on 22 September to tighten requirements for game bird rearers and shoot operators and introduce enhanced reporting whenever keepers see unusual changes in morbidity, mortality, egg production or feed and water intake. Housing measures lifted nationally in May remain lifted unless you are inside a disease control zone.

Since the start of the 2025–26 season in October, the UK has logged nine confirmed H5N1 cases: seven in England, one in Wales (25 October) and one in Northern Ireland (9 October). Under World Organisation for Animal Health rules, the UK is no longer considered free of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

For keepers in Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, the immediate tasks are practical. Check your location on the Defra disease control map before any movements, follow the zone rules to the letter and apply for a movement licence where required. The AIPZ points to cleansing and disinfecting vehicles and footwear, keeping wild birds off feeders and drinkers, and stepping up record‑keeping and reporting of any unusual drops in egg numbers or feed and water intake.

Events can still run outside disease control zones, but conditions apply. Poultry gatherings need a specific licence; gatherings of other captive birds must follow the terms of the general licence. If your premises falls inside a protection, surveillance or captive‑bird monitoring zone, different and stricter rules apply.

Public health agencies are clear. UKHSA says the risk to the general public is “very low”, while the Food Standards Agency classes the food safety risk as very low and confirms properly cooked poultry and eggs are safe to eat. Members of the public should not touch dead or sick wild birds and should use the official reporting route. Government risk assessments currently rate H5 in wild birds as high; for poultry it’s medium where biosecurity is weak and low where it’s consistently strong.

For Northern producers heading into winter, the message is steady rather than alarmist: tighten routines, keep visitors and vehicles controlled, and keep an eye on the map and official updates. The AIPZ and disease zones will be reviewed as evidence changes, but for now the North is operating with heightened vigilance and clear rules to keep flocks safe.