Avian influenza problems persist in Asian nations, while a new outbreak of the virus has been reported in Mexico.
Active surveillance reveals HPAI in Mexico
After a reported absence of almost one year, Mexico has recorded a new outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in its commercial poultry sector in the last week.
Official reports indicate Mexico had been free of HPAI since May of 2016, but the H7N3 virus was detected during active surveillance in a poultry flock of more than 151,000 birds in the state of Jalisco during the first week of May this year. According to the report from the national animal health agency to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the two-year-old birds showed no clinical signs of the disease.
New HPAI outbreaks in Vietnam
According to the ministry of agriculture and rural development’s latest reports to the OIE, there has been just one new outbreak of HPAI caused by the H5N1 virus. The affected backyard flock – numbering 5,000 birds - was located in the north-east coastal province of Quang Ninh. Around 2,000 birds died and the rest have been destroyed.
The ministry also belatedly reported five HPAI outbreaks in backyard poultry in February of this year. All located in Nghe An province in the north central coastal region, the flocks ranged in size from 72 to 4,400 birds. All 5,500 poultry died or were destroyed as a result of the disease.
H5 HPAI found in Taiwan poultry markets
In recent days, Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture has confirmed that an HPAI virus of the H5 family has been detected in three batches of chickens at poultry markets in Taipei and New Taipei.
According to a report in Focus Taiwan, tests are underway to identify the virus subgroup. The authorities are hoping it does not turn out to be the H5N6 virus, which is easily transmitted from poultry to humans. The chickens, which have all been destroyed, have been tracked back to nine farms in Kaohsiung city and the counties of Miaoli, Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung.
There have been no confirmed detections of the H5N6 virus since early March.
Most HPAI cases in Taiwan have been caused by the H5N2 virus type, and one new HPAI outbreak at a farm in Yunlin county with 8,000 native chickens has been confirmed by the authorities to the OIE during the last week. A low-pathogenic form of the same virus family has been reported to the OIE retrospectively. In 2015, following abnormal mortality in chickens at five farms, more than 91,000 birds were destroyed.
South Korea reports 273 HPAI outbreaks
Evidence of the scale of South Korea’s battle to control HPAI has been revealed in a recent official report from the agriculture ministry to the OIE, which outlined 273 confirmed outbreaks caused by the H5N6 virus between November 23 and December 26 last year. Almost 30,000 poultry – including chickens (layers and meat birds), ducks and quail – died and a staggering 20.2 million were destroyed.
It has been estimated that the total poultry destroyed in South Korea in order to contain the disease is almost twice that number - 37.8 million.
