Over the last week, nine countries in Europe have reported new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and new outbreaks of the disease have also been confirmed in South Korea, Japan, Iran and Nigeria.
Avian influenza in Europe
The first outbreak of HPAI since July of 2015 has been confirmed in England. Nearly all of the flock of 2,428 housed turkeys at the farm in Louth in the county of Lincolnshire died, and the rest have been destroyed. The presence of the H5N8 virus has been confirmed, the same variant that has been affecting other parts of Europe in recent weeks. Having already called for all poultry to be kept housed, where possible, the veterinary authorities in England, Wales and Scotland have halted all poultry events, and there are additional restrictions on movements of poultry to Northern Ireland from other parts of the U.K.
Hungary has reported to the OIE a further 63 HPAI outbreaks affecting more than 377,000 poultry in the last week alone. These bring the country’s losses to almost 1.33 million birds, mostly ducks and geese, at 161 locations. The outbreaks have been concentrated in the central-southern regions, particularly in the county of Bacs-Kiskun.
Having previously detected the H5N8 HPAI virus only in wild birds, Serbia has informed OIE about three recent outbreaks in backyards poultry farms in South Backa district, which is in the north of the country. A total of 237 birds have been destroyed to prevent further spread of the virus.
According to the ministry of agriculture, France has so far a total of 35 confirmed outbreaks of HPAI caused by the H5N8 virus on poultry farms in the south-west of the country. As previously observed, most of the birds affected in the latest outbreaks have been ducks or mixed flocks including that species. Over the last week alone, the veterinary authority has reported 23 new outbreaks leading to the death or destruction of almost 70,000 domestic birds. In addition, the same virus has been detected in wild birds at five locations in the same area.
Over the last week, the Netherlands has sent official confirmation of two new outbreaks of H5N8 HPAI in poultry to the IOE. These were in a flock of 28,000 laying hens in Hiaure in the province of Friesland, and 14,000 fattening ducks at Kamperveen in Overijssel. Furthermore, the ministry of economic affairs has confirmed the infection in a flock of 48,000 laying hens at Boven-Leeuwen in the province of Gelderland. Because of their proximity to the infection, 244,000 chickens at three neighboring farms are now scheduled for destruction. These will bring the Dutch total to almost 428,000 poultry at 10 locations. The same virus has been detected in wild birds at a further 13 locations recently.
Until recently, nearly all cases of HPAI in Germany have been in zoos or in wild ducks, and the H5N8 virus has been detected across almost the whole country. The latest reports to the OIE, however, describe three outbreaks in domestic poultry. These include farms with 8,700 turkeys in Lower Saxony, 10,000 fattening ducks in Saxony Anhalt and 21,000 turkeys in North Rhine Westphalia. These latest cases bring the total outbreaks in commercial poultry in Germany to five, leading to the death or destruction of almost 92,000 birds.
With just one previous HPAI outbreak on a commercial farm, Poland has reported cases at four new locations to the OIE in the last few days. Three of these were in Lubuskie province in the west of the country, and the other was in the east in Podkarpackie. Almost 75,000 birds died or have been destroyed as a result of the latest outbreaks.
Romania has reported to the OIE that the H5N8 HPAI virus has been detected in another dead swan in Constanta, where other wild birds have succumbed to the HPAI over the last month.
Following confirmation of an HPAI virus of the H5 group in a backyard flock in Kherson oblast in November, Ukraine has reported a further three outbreaks to the OIE. These included two backyard flocks and 10 dead swans at one location in the same region.
Russia has informed OIE about further cases of HPAI caused by a virus of the H5 family. Latest to be affected was a small backyard poultry flock in Krasnodar Krai in the Southern Federal District.
While testing poultry for HPAI, the veterinary authorities in France have also detected the presence of low-pathogenic viruses. Almost 1,000 ducks have been culled in Gers after the H5N9 virus was confirmed there, and finding of the H5N1 virus led to the destruction of 800 birds in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées.
Asia: South Korea, Japan, Iran battle avian flu
Iran has reported a further four new outbreaks of HPAI caused by the H5N8 virus to the OIE. Five previous outbreaks have been in the region of Tehran, but the latest cases were in distant districts. Two large farms with laying hens were affected in East Azarbayejan and Qom, and wild birds were found dead at two wetlands.
HPAI looks set to cause record-breaking damage to the poultry sector in South Korea, where already 10 percent of the country’s birds have been slaughtered due to infection with the virus or as a preventative measure to stop further spread of the disease.
News agency, Yonhap, reports data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, which puts the losses so far at more than 19.9 million birds on 378 farms. A report from the Korea Economic Research Institute estimates the losses in financial terms at KRW492 billion (US$412.6 million) after 10 percent of the poultry population has been slaughtered due to the outbreak and spread of bird flu.
Government officials in Seoul believe the number of outbreaks could continue for some time, and some sources have put future losses as high as 20 percent of the national flock.
Following previous outbreaks at zoos and in wild birds, Japan is also now battling the HPAI virus on its poultry farms. According to Japan Times, 284,000 chickens were culled earlier this week in Shimizu prefecture on the northern island of Hokkaido after the H5N6 virus was detected there.
The same source reports a sixth outbreak has since been confirmed in Miyazaki prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu, and culling of the flock is underway. A total of 5.63 million chickens on 143 farms lie within the restriction area covered by that outbreak.
Africa: HPAI returns to Nigeria
After a short absence, HPAI has returned to Nigeria. The veterinary authority has reported to the OIE one outbreak caused by the H5N8 HPAI virus in a mixed flock of 250 birds in Kano state in mid-November.
