Nigeria, South Korea, Taiwan struggle with avian flu

New outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been reported in the last week in Nigeria and Taiwan, while the South Korean authorities are experiencing financial and logistical challenges in tackling HPAI in poultry. Low-pathogenic avian flu has been detected at a third location in Chile.

Flavio Takemoto, Freeimages.com
Flavio Takemoto, Freeimages.com

New outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been reported in the last week in Nigeria and Taiwan, while the South Korean authorities are experiencing financial and logistical challenges in tackling HPAI in poultry. Low-pathogenic avian flu has been detected at a third location in Chile.

Nigeria reports HPAI outbreaks with two virus types

HPAI caused by the H5N1 virus was first reported in Nigeria in January of 2015, and outbreaks have occurred sporadically since that time. In January of 2017, according to the report of the national veterinary authority to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), there were nine new outbreaks. These occurred in the central states of Plateau, Bauchi, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory, and affected six farms and three backyard flocks. All outbreaks were in laying hens or pullets, and one farm had 130,000 birds. Of the almost 146,000 poultry affected, nearly 1,000 died and the rest have been destroyed.

The H5N8 virus was first reported in Nigeria in December last year, in a small poultry flock in the state of Kano. The authorities have now reported to OIE detecting the virus in a small number of ducks at a market in the same state in mid-January.

Asia: South Korea battles HPAI, Myanmar belatedly reports outbreak

In its worst ever outbreak of HPAI, South Korea has already culled 33.13 million poultry, according to Yonhap. The agriculture ministry has paid more than KRW260 billion (US$227 million) in compensation to the 340 affected farms. This is already 2.6 times more than in the outbreaks in 2014, when almost 14 million poultry were lost to the disease.

In a new report from the veterinary authority in Myanmar to the OIE, H5N6 HPAI virus was detected in a small number of laying hens at a market in Shan state in March last year. A total of 300 birds were slaughtered. The location, Kyaingtong, is near the border with China, and had been selected for surveillance based on the risk of infection from uncontrolled trade between the two countries.

Taiwan’s ministry of agriculture has informed the OIE that HPAI of the H5N6 subtype has been detected for the first time in a dead goose in Yuli town in Hualien county. The H5N2 virus has been responsible for HPAI outbreaks for more than two years, and the ministry has reported a further seven new outbreaks to the OIE last month. All these cases were on farms, and led to the loss of almost 79,000 native chickens, chickens, breeding ducks and turkeys.

Since the OIE report, Focus Taiwan has recorded three more HPAI outbreaks in Yunlin county, leading to the culling of almost 32,000 birds to prevent the epidemic from spreading further. These latest cases take the number of affected farms so far this year to 13, with almost 128,000 birds culled.

The 10th outbreak of HPAI in Japan this winter has already been reported. It occurred at Kouhoku in Saga prefecture, and the ministry of agriculture’s report to the OIE indicates that the outbreak, caused by an H5N6 HPAI virus, affected a flock of more than 70,000 broiler breeders.

China reported the first detection of the H5N8 HPAI virus a month ago, in a large flock of swans at a zoo in Hubei province. The same virus has now been detected in 20 dead swans in the city of Yuncheng in Shanxi province, according to the latest report of the ministry of agriculture to the OIE.

South America: Chile reports third outbreak of low-pathogenic avian flu

The H7N6 low-pathogenic avian influenza virus has been detected in a third flock of poultry in Chile. According to the official report to the OIE, five chickens in a backyard flock of 425 birds tested positive for the virus. All have been destroyed. The poultry were in the same district in the state of Valparaiso as a previous outbreak.

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