New subtypes of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus have been detected for the first time in the commercial poultry sectors in Malaysia, Russia and Taiwan.
In Malaysia, local media reported the presence of HPAI in the state of Sabah this month, and this has now been confirmed in an official report to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). In the report, the Department of Veterinary Services identified the virus as belonging to the H5N1 family, which had last been detected in the country in April 2017.
Affecting a flock of 28,000 laying chickens, this was the first HPAI outbreak in Sabah, and all poultry exports from the state have been halted, according to The Star.
Sabah’s Agriculture and Food Minister, Junz Wong, has confirmed that the owners of village flocks culled to control the spread of the virus will receive compensation from the state government, but farmers will not “because they knew the risks when venturing into the industry.”
An “aggressive” program of surveillance and culling is being carried out in the area, reports New Straits Times, and officials say that the outbreak will be contained within one month. The virus has been detected in another poultry flock in Kampung Loputung, which is within five kilometers of the first outbreak.
Just under 30,000 chickens have been culled from the two affected farms, along with 1,150 other birds belonging to nearby village flocks.
Taiwan’s agriculture ministry has informed the OIE about the detection of a new H5 HPAI virus. The first of the four outbreaks reported dates back to January, and the most recent was in June. The source of the infection is unknown, and the Animal Health Research Institute has not released the further identity or origin of the virus.
Detection occurred at four farms — three in Yunlin county, and one in Pingtung — as the result of intensive surveillance around other premises affected by HPAI. More than 60,000 poultry — two layer flocks, chickens and ducks — were destroyed in these outbreaks, and a further 230 birds died from the disease.
Taiwan has been battling to control HPAI linked to the H5N2 virus variant since early 2015, and a further two outbreaks in July linked to this subtype have been confirmed to the OIE. Latest to be affected were two farms in Yunlin county — one in Taixi with 3,411 meat ducks, and a flock of 36,455 native chickens in Shuilin. The usual precautions of movement restrictions, culling, cleaning and disinfection, and intensive surveillance of neighboring farms have been applied.
The H5N1 HPAI situation in Bhutan has been resolved, the country’s agriculture ministry has informed the OIE. The announcement comes after two outbreaks of the disease in March, but the virus has not been detected since that time. A total of 677 poultry from one farm and one backyard flock were lost to the disease through mortality or destruction.
Europe: Second highly virulent HPAI virus detected in Russia
The H5N2 variant of the HPAI virus appears to have made an unwelcome return to Russia after a brief absence. According to Rosselkhoznadzor, the animal health agency in the agriculture ministry, the virus was detected at a farm with just under half a million poultry at Harino in Kostroma oblast on August 9. About 500 of the birds died, and a further 1,223 had been culled.
According to the official report to the OIE, the virus was identified by PCR and nucleotide sequencing as of Asian origin, and of potentially high virulence.
This outbreak comes after a previous one in the same oblast in December 2017, when more than 663,000 birds were affected at a single farm belonging to the Kostromskaya company.
Since June, Russia has been reporting cases of HPAI linked to an H5 virus, which is thought to belong to the H5N8 subgroup. The agriculture ministry has recently confirmed a further eight outbreaks, bringing the total so far to 79.
All these most recent cases were in backyard flocks, affecting 598 birds. Four of the outbreaks were in Udmurtia, and one each in the oblasts of Orlov and Nizhny Novgorod, and the republics of Chuvash and Mari El.
With the republics of Udmurtia and Mari El reporting their first cases, HPAI outbreaks have now been confirmed in 14 regions of Russia over the past three months.
The disease situation with the H5N8 HPAI virus in Bulgarian poultry has been reported to the OIE as “resolved” by the country’s veterinary authority.
This comes after eight confirmed outbreaks of the disease in poultry since March, affecting more than 72,600 birds. The most recent outbreak was in a backyard flock in the province of Dobrich in July. All of the previous outbreaks were in commercial poultry.
Denmark’s animal health agency has reported to the OIE that another wild bird has tested positive for the H5N6 HPAI virus variant. The bird, a swan, was found dead in the municipality of Slagelse in west Zealand.
In the U.S., the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published in the last week its final rule outlining the conditions for poultry farms affected by HPAI to receive indemnity payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
