Further outbreaks of avian flu hit poultry in Asia, Africa

New outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been reported in poultry in Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Togo, while a low-pathogenic virus has been detected for the first time in Denmark.

(NikD51, Bigstock)
(NikD51, Bigstock)

New outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been reported in poultry in Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Togo, while a low-pathogenic virus has been detected for the first time in Denmark.

Saudi Arabia’s veterinary authority has confirmed to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) a further seven HPAI outbreaks caused by the H5N8 virus in February and March of this year. All were on farms in the Riyadh region, in flocks of between 85,000 and almost 1.14 million birds. More than three million birds were lost to the disease in these outbreaks, including over 11,000 mortalities affecting all of the farms.

These latest outbreaks bring the total in the kingdom since December last year to 29, with more than 4.95 million birds dead or culled to reduce the further spread of the infection.

Two outbreaks of HPAI linked to the H5N2 virus variant occurred in Taiwan last month, according to the official agriculture ministry report to the OIE. One flock of around 3,800 meat ducks in Pingtung county tested positive for the virus, as did almost 2,400 meat geese in Yunlin after more than 500 of the birds died.

A more recent outbreak of HPAI linked to an H5 virus in a goose flock in another Yunlin goose flock, reports Focus Taiwan. All 2,279 birds have been culled. These latest cases bring Taiwan’s total outbreaks so far this year to 68, according to the Council of Agriculture.

South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has declared the HPAI situation in the country to be resolved. Since the first outbreak of the disease linked to the H5N6 virus variant in November last year, there were 22 confirmed outbreaks. The most recent of these started in mid-March, and was cleared at the end of April.

Africa: Second HPAI outbreak in Togo

There has been a second outbreak of HPAI in Togo, reports La Tribune Afrique. The H5N1 virus has been detected in a flock in the Lacs region in the south of the country, near to the capital city, Lomé. Almost 4,000 poultry were scheduled for slaughter as a result.

The West African republic’s poultry sector has been warned to be on high alert, and poultry movements in the region have been banned for 30 days to halt the spread of the disease.

Europe: Germany reports new HPAI outbreak

In the last week of April, Germany’s veterinary authority confirmed a new outbreak of HPAI in a wild bird found dead in Lower Saxony. The bird tested positive for the H5N6 virus, the same subtype detected in a previous outbreak in a backyard flock in Schleswig-Holstein in March.

From Denmark comes news that a flock of 20,000 ducks is to be humanely destroyed after testing positive for a low-pathogenic form of the avian flu virus. According to Copenhagen Post, the flock is near Holstenbro in northwest Jutland. Based on official reports to the OIE, this appear to be the first time such a virus has been detected in Denmark for some years.

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