Overview
- Witney Town Council said a deceased swan retrieved from Witney Lake tested positive for avian influenza (H5N1).
- Blenheim Communities reported a confirmed case within the estate’s park and said monitoring is ongoing across the wider estate.
- Local notices advise the public not to touch dead or ill birds and to report findings to Defra via its website or helpline.
- The location has drawn attention due to its proximity to Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mozzi’s Cotswolds farmhouse, with no human or household animal infections reported in the coverage.
- H5N1 is highly lethal to wild and domestic birds and can occasionally infect some mammals, with human cases described as rare.