France, China announce new measures to tackle avian flu

In order to prevent a recurrence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in France, additional biosecurity measures will be introduced in the coming weeks and, in China, the growing number of human cases of H7N9 influenza has prompted the government to announce a nationwide campaign of poultry vaccination.

Yuriy Bukhanovsky | BigStock.com
Yuriy Bukhanovsky | BigStock.com

In order to prevent a recurrence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in France, additional biosecurity measures will be introduced in the coming weeks and, in China, the growing number of human cases of H7N9 influenza has prompted the government to announce a nationwide campaign of poultry vaccination.

The latest countries to report outbreaks of HPAI in poultry are South Africa, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Europe: Extra biosecurity in France

After a devastating series of 486 HPAI outbreaks in 2016 and 2017, the French government has announced that additional biosecurity measures will be introduced this fall to prevent the return of the disease.

Last week, agriculture minister Stéphane Travert ordered farmers to draw up appropriate measures to prevent the transmission of viruses from migratory birds to the poultry sector. These measures, to be applied from September 1, include regular testing of poultry flocks for signs of the virus, management of vehicle movements between farms, and preventing wild birds from accessing poultry feed and feeding areas.

Asia: China to vaccinate nationwide; more outbreaks in Taiwan, Vietnam

Starting this fall, poultry will be vaccinated against the H7N9 strain of HPAI nationwide in China, reports Reuters. A previous announcement from the agriculture ministry indicated the vaccination program would take place only in selected provinces.

After an absence of little more than a month, H5N1 HPAI has returned to Vietnam. According to the veterinary authority in Hanoi, a backyard flock of 1,135 poultry in the northeastern province of Ha Nam is the latest to be affected by the disease.

From Taiwan comes news of a further five new HPAI outbreaks, affecting more than 30,000 poultry. The H5N2 variant of the virus has been detected in ducks, chickens and native chickens at four locations, while a duck flock in Pingtung county has tested positive for both the H5N2 and H5N8 viruses.

Following previous outbreaks of avian influenza in its poultry sector, Laos has declared itself free of the disease to the OIE. Between 2014 and 2016, the country reported three outbreaks of the disease linked to highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5N6 viruses, and low-pathogenic H5N6.

Africa: South Africa reports new outbreaks

There have been two new outbreaks of HPAI in poultry in South Africa, bringing the country’s total to four. Latest to be affected by the H5N8 virus are two commercial laying flocks – one in the province of Gauteng, which surrounds the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria, and one in Mpumalanga. More than 1,000 hens died among the 377,000 affected in these outbreaks.

Zimbabwe’s veterinary authority has reported to the OIE that there have been no signs of the H5N8 virus spreading outside the three units of a farm in Lanark that were infected in May.

Two new human cases of H7N9 influenza in China

Latest figures from the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) in Hong Kong put the total number of confirmed human cases of influenza A (H7N9) globally at 1,556, an increase of two cases since the previous week. Of these, 750 cases have now been recorded in Mainland China since October 2016.

The latest patients were from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Yunnan province, and were known to have had contact with poultry.

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