After a short absence, it appears that avian influenza has again hit poultry in Nepal, and there have been new outbreaks in Taiwan and Vietnam.
Last reported cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Nepal were in June, but the disease has now reappeared, affecting a different region of the country.
The H5N1 virus variant was detected in a mixed poultry flock numbering 417 birds in mid-August after almost 195 of them died. According to the official report from the agriculture ministry to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the farm — located in the Morang district in Koshi zone in the south-east of Nepal — has been depopulated, cleaned and disinfected. In addition, 400 kilograms of poultry feed and 1,500 kilograms of feed ingredients have been destroyed.
Previous HPAI cases in the South Asian state were reported in June at two locations in Bagmati zone, which is in central Nepal.
HPAI detected at two more farms in Taiwan
The H5N6 HPAI virus has been detected following elevated mortality at two farms in Yunlin county, according to the latest report from the Council of Agriculture to the OIE. Both farms had flocks of over 8,000 native chickens, and over 16,703 birds were lost to the disease through mortality or culling in these outbreaks. They bring the total number of outbreaks in the county so far this year to 32.
Another outbreak in southern Vietnam
HPAI of the H5N6 virus variant has been detected in a flock of village poultry in Ben Tre province in the south of the country, reports Xinhua, in what appears to be the first outbreak of the disease linked to this virus subtype.
Around 1,000 birds have been culled, the surrounding area disinfected, and vaccination in the province has been intensified.
According to the report, further outbreaks of HPAI have been forecast in the coming months as a result of seasonal weather changes and the forthcoming lunar New Year holiday period.
HPAI 'resolved' in India
India’s agriculture ministry has reported to the OIE that an earlier HPAI situation has been “resolved.” The move follows a single outbreak in January of this year. The H5N1 virus subtype was detected in a large backyard poultry flock in the Godda district of Jharkhand in eastern India, but there have been no further detections of the virus in the state since that time.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
