Hardly had previously imposed control measures been relaxed in the United Kingdom (UK), and two new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) were confirmed in backyard flocks. Meanwhile, French authorities have reduced the avian flu-risk status of the country further.
There are also new cases in commercial poultry flocks in Russia, while intensive surveillance has revealed the virus in wild birds in Denmark and Italy.
New avian flu outbreaks in UK backyard flocks
Last week, the government agriculture department, Defra, announced that the H5N8 HPAI had been detected in two backyard poultry flocks near Thornton in the county of Lancashire in the north-west of the country. The district had been affected in previous outbreaks, the last of which began at the end of January.
Statements from the country’s has confirmed the outbreaks, firstly in a flock of around 30 chickens, and two days later in a mixed group of nine chickens and ducks in the same area. In both cases, some birds died and the rest have been humanely culled.
Source of the infection is being investigated, and the usual control measures have been put in place, including a 3-km Protection Zone and a 10-km Surveillance Zone around the affected premises.
Lifting of the Avian Influenza Protection Zone and the ban on poultry gatherings in England had been scheduled for next week.
Russia reports new HPAI cases in poultry
Two new outbreaks of HPAI caused by the H5N8 virus have been reported in the last week by Russia’s veterinary authority to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
More than 8,000 birds died at the two farms in the same district of Rostov oblast. The rest were scheduled for humane destruction, leading to the loss of more than 339,000 poultry in total.
France lowers avian flu risk further
The agriculture ministry in France has reduced the official avian flu risk level from “moderate” to “negligible.”
Control measures that have been in place since mid-April – including the confinement of free-range birds and meetings involving poultry, game birds and pigeons - are lifted. This applies to the whole of the country except for very high-risk areas such as wetlands with wildlife.
Poultry farmers are being urged, however, to remain vigilant for signs of the disease.
In the southwest of France, where the HPAI outbreaks were concentrated, duck and goose farms must still remain free of birds until restocking is permitted from May 29.
Ministry figures put the total number of confirmed H5N8 outbreaks at 485, with 55 cases in wild birds.
H5N8 virus detected in wild birds
Denmark’s animal health agency has reported to the OIE that a total of 16 wild birds found dead between early January and the beginning of April this year tested positive for the H5N8 HPAI virus.
In Italy, a wild swan found dead near a park in Turin province in the region of Piedmont at the end of April has tested positive for the same virus type, according to the national health authority and research organization for animal health and food safety, IZSVe.
