Poultry producers could soon benefit from tracking data for wild birds when assessing the risk of avian influenza (AI) to their flocks.
Julian Sparrey, group technical director at Livetec Systems, said the company was working to integrate data on wild bird movements into its Livestock Protect platform to help producers understand where cases of AI 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,” said Sparrey.
“Data from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) shows there were 856 cases of AI in wild birds in 2025 to the week ending 12 October, with a large proportion of these cases reported in gulls.
“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.”
It has long been suggested that HPAI is spread long distances by the wind, however Sparrey said the virus is more likely being spread by wild birds as they move with the wind.
“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 added.
“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.”
He said data from other studies shows some gulls are prepared to travel as far as 300km for feed, with a daily range of around 30km.
“These birds are a bridge species meaning they’re moving the disease around,” said Sparrey.
“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.”
He said Livetec is working to integrate the findings from this study into its Livestock Protect app, with a long-term vision of being able to better predict outbreaks of AI.
“We plan to track daily movement of gull species and then overlap this information with cases of AI, enabling us to predict future outbreaks and risk periods,” said Sparrey.
“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 a local level will be of huge benefit to producers and enable them to take appropriate action.”