Bird f lu Brit: I feel f it, healthy ... and lonely
The first Briton to contract a potentially fatal strain of bird flu has spoken of his heartbreak over the culling of his beloved ducks – but insists he still feels ‘fit and healthy’.
Alan Gosling, 79, tested positive for avian influenza following an outbreak of the virus among his flock of 160 Muscovy and Mandarin ducks.
The retired train driver, who is having to isolate at home, said he had been left feeling ‘lonely’ after the loss of the birds – some of which he had hand-reared.
‘As far as health is concerned, I’m fine, but I can’t stop thinking about the ducks,’ the grandfather, from Buckfastleigh in Devon, said.
‘I’m as fit and healthy now as I was donkey’s years ago because looking after the ducks kept me busy and active every day. By now, I would be back out with them except I don’t have any because they killed them all... They all had different stories and then I had to watch them being killed and I couldn’t do anything to help them.’
Around 20 of the ducks lived in his semi-detached home with him – with the rest of the flock living on a small allotment nearby. Shortly before Christmas, he noticed the ducks were falling ill and they subsequently tested positive for the h5N1 strain of bird flu.
As a result, the flock – along with his pet budgies and cockatoo – were culled by a team in hazmat suits.
Mr Gosling was found to be infected with low levels of the h5 flu but it is unconfirmed whether he has the N1 strain. The result makes the father of three the first human to contract h5 in europe.
he added: ‘At the moment I can’t focus on anything else because my ducks are all I can think about. When I go to sleep it’s what I dream about – it never leaves my mind.’