Africa’s avian influenza battle continues

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus has been detected in poultry in South Africa, Nigeria, Taiwan and Italy over the last week, and there has been one confirmed new case in a human patient in China.

Photo by Andrea Gantz
Photo by Andrea Gantz

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus has been detected in poultry in South Africa, Nigeria, Taiwan and Italy over the last week, and there has been one confirmed new case in a human patient in China.

South Africa’s poultry and ostrich sectors continue their battle against the H5N8 variant of the HPAI virus. Based on official reports to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the total number of confirmed outbreaks in poultry and other birds since June has increased to 43.

Over the last week, the disease has affected five poultry flocks, including two commercial ostrich farms in Western Cape Province, two farms of around 50,000 birds each in Cape Town and North West Province, and a backyard flock in Mpumalanga.

A total of 72 birds of other types have also succumbed to the disease in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Gauteng province.

After a prolonged absence, the H5N8 HPAI appears to have returned to Nigeria, where it was detected in early August in a flock of around 100,000 caged laying hens at Abeokuta in Ogun state, which borders Benin. According to the official report to the OIE, source of the infection is unknown, but poor farm biosecurity is thought to have played a role. There were two previous related outbreaks reported by the Nigerian animal health agency. There were in Kano state in November of last year.

There have been no new outbreaks of HPAI in Egypt since mid-April, based on reports to the OIE from the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. While the disease situation in the country is described as “stable” rather than “resolved”, the Ministry’s latest report states that more than 542,000 poultry in close proximity to previous outbreaks have been vaccinated against the disease.

Asia: HPAI virus detected at Taipei city slaughterhouses

Taiwan has been experiencing sporadic outbreaks of HPAI since January of 2015. According to a recent official report from the animal health agency to the OIE, 10 native chickens tested positive for the H5N2 virus variant at a city abattoir in mid-August. The birds were traced back to the farm of origin.

Last week, another slaughterhouse – this time in the municipality of New Taipei – found signs of an H5 virus in chickens on three of its nine slaughter lines. According to Focus Taiwan, the lines were halted and disinfected, while a total of 40 suspect carcasses were frozen and sealed. The virus-positive birds were subsequently traced to farms in Yunlin county and Taoyuan.

In July, Taiwan declared itself free of the H5N6 HPAI virus variant, which can be transmitted from birds to people. After affecting 12 farms and leading to the loss of 42,000 poultry, the virus had not been detected in the territory since early March.

Europe: Another Italian turkey flock succumbs to HPAI

Latest to be affected in Italy’s current battle against H5N8 HPAI is a flock of around 23,000 fattening turkeys in Cremona province in the region of Lombardy, according to the Ministry of Health’s report to the OIE.

The Italian health authority and research organization for animal health and food safety (IZSVe) reports that some of the 107-day-old birds in one poultry house on the farm had shown mild nervous and respiratory symptoms, and mortality had increased slightly.

This brings to 36 the number of HPAI outbreaks in Italy so far this year.

China: New human avian flu case

Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection reports that there has been one new confirmed cases of avian influenza A (H7N9) in China over the last week. The latest case was in Jiangsu province, bringing the global total to 1,562 since March of 2013, and Mainland China’s count to 756 since October last year.

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