Europe, Asia, Africa on heightened alert for avian flu

Poultry flocks in 9 European countries have been affected

Photo: New cases of avian influenza continue to emerge. | Andrea Gantz

With highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detected in ever more wild birds and poultry flocks across northern and eastern Europe, the continent’s poultry industry is on a heightened level of awareness for the virus. To date, poultry flocks have been infected in nine European countries, according to official reports received by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) from the national veterinary authorities.

South Korea, Japan, Israel and Iran have also reported new outbreaks on poultry farms over the last week.

Europe: new cases of HPAI in poultry in Ukraine, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Poland

Ukraine has reported to the OIE its first outbreak of HPAI caused by a virus of the H5 family. Since mid-November, increased mortality was observed in a flock of 2,500 poultry in a village in Kherson oblast, which is in the south of the country, near the Black Sea.

Germany has reported two new outbreaks of HPAI in poultry over the last week. Both were in backyard flocks in Mecklenberg-West Pomerania, a state in which previous outbreaks have been recorded. A total of 427 poultry died or were destroyed as a result of the latest outbreaks.

At Biddinghuizen in the Dutch province of Flevoland, two more flocks of fattening ducks have tested positive for the H5N8 variant of the HPAI virus. These were likely linked by their proximity to an earlier outbreak, leading to the loss of a further 23,830 birds through mortality or destruction.

HPAI has returned to the poultry sector in France, according to a report from the ministry of Agriculture to the OIE. It reports eight outbreaks caused by the H5N8 virus subtype, affecting more than 48,600 domestic poultry, most of which as described as “ducks for gavage.” The departments affected – Tarn, Gers, Lot-et-Garonne and Hautes Pyrénées – are located in south-west France, where previous HPAI outbreaks occurred around one year ago.

After detecting the H5N8 HPAI in wild birds since early November, Poland has reported its first cases of HPAI in poultry to the OIE. Affected was a farm with 1,839 birds in Lubuskie, a province in the west of the country that borders Germany.

Cases of the H5N8 virus in wild birds and/or zoos have been reported in the last week to the OIE by the veterinary authorities in Switzerland, Finland, Austria, France, Germany, Romania, The Netherlands and Serbia.

Even in those countries where the virus has not been found, additional measures have been put in place to try to prevent the spread of the virus. In the U.K., for example, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has called on everyone in England who keeps poultry and other captive birds – farmers, smallholders and pet-owners – to confine their birds indoors for the next month to prevent contact with wild birds that may be carrying the virus.

Asia: New outbreaks in poultry in South Korea, Japan, Israel, Iran

South Korea has reported to the OIE that the HPAI virus of H5N6 type was confirmed at a further six farms, bringing the country’s total so far to 20 in three provinces. The latest findings have led to the destruction of more than 53,000 birds in the provinces of North Chungcheong (Chungcheongbuk-do) and North Jeolla (Jeollabuk-do).

The same virus has been detected at four HPAI outbreaks in poultry in Japan. All have been in the north of the main island of Honshu – two in each of the prefectures Aomori and Niigata. Two of the outbreaks were in laying hens, and two in ducks; a total of almost 573,000 birds have died or been destroyed in the four latest outbreaks.

Israel reported its first H5N8 HPAI outbreak in early November in its Northern District. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has recently informed OIE about three new outbreaks, all in the Southern District (Hadarom). Affected were two flocks of growing turkeys and one of mature breeders, 45,000 birds in total.

There have been two new outbreaks of HPAI in Iran, bringing the country’s total to five affecting farms. Like the previous cases, the latest outbreaks are in the region of Tehran – in Malard and Karaj. Just under 250,000 commercial layers died or were destroyed in the latest outbreaks. The presence of the H5N8 virus has been confirmed.

In Hong Kong, the H5N8 HPAI virus has been detected in three samples taken from wild ducks in a natural park, according to a new report to the OIE.

Taiwan has battled HPAI in poultry in recent years. The Council of Agriculture announced last week that it is increasing the level of monitoring in Tainan and Yilan after sampling revealed H7N7, H5N3, and H7N8 viruses in wild and migratory birds in wetlands in those two districts, reports Focus Taiwan.

Africa: HPAI virus detected in Egypt, Tunisia; LPAI in South Africa

Egypt’s ministry of agriculture has reported to OIE that the H5N8 subtype of HPAI virus has been detected for the first time, in two wild swans found dead at Dumyat in the north of the country.

In northern Tunisia, an HPAI virus of the H5 family has been detected for the first time in 30 wild birds found dead at a park in Bizerte in the north of the country, according to OIE.

The commercial ostrich sector in South Africa has reported another flock that has tested positive for the H7N2 low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus. There were no clinical signs in the birds, which are in Western Cape Province.

North America: Canada returns to avian flu-free status

The H5N2 LPAI virus was detected in July of this year at a commercial duck farm in Ontario, Canada. Since then, enhanced surveillance by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has revealed no further positive results. According to the Agency’s report to OIE, the province has regained its status as free of avian influenza, and all Canada is now free of the disease in domestic poultry.