Ukrainian authorities are in discussions with the European Union to resume poultry meat exports to the region following an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Ukraine. The disease has returned to India, and two new outbreaks have been confirmed in Slovakia. Mild avian flu has been detected in a Danish poultry flock.
Only one country, Slovakia, has officially reported new outbreaks of HPAI over the past week.
According to the latest reports from the agriculture ministry to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the H5N8 virus variant has been detected at two more locations. These bring the country’s total outbreaks since January 9 to four.
One of the new Slovakian outbreaks was in a backyard flock in the northern region of Zilina, near to the border with Poland. Four of the 10 birds in the flock died, and the rest have been destroyed. The other outbreak was among captive birds at a zoo in Prievidza, which is in the central-western region of Trencin. Five of the nine birds that died were members of the duck family, and the other four were spoonbills.
Following HPAI outbreaks in recent weeks, Hungary’s agriculture ministry has reported to the OIE that there have been no new cases of the disease over the past week.
New Indian outbreak sparks panic
HPAI has been confirmed in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, reports Times of India. Since the virus was detected at a poultry farm belonging to Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology earlier this week, chicken meat sales have dropped by half.
Rapid response teams have been culling all poultry within one kilometer of the outbreak. According to one poultry trader, chicken meat is safe to eat as long as it is thoroughly cooked. However, he said prices are dropping sharply as people are panicking.
Almost 1,000 poultry and 4,000 eggs from the infected zone have been destroyed, according to New Indian Express. Teams are now reviewing the situation at farms and markets in an area between one and 10 kilometers from the original outbreak. A public awareness campaign is also underway.
Ukraine in talks with European Union over poultry trade
Last week, there were reports that HPAI had returned to Ukraine. The outbreak was in Vinnitsa, which is one of the country’s centers for poultry production.
This news was followed by the European Union (EU) suspending imports of poultry meat from Ukraine, reports UKR Inform. According to the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the suspension covers poultry meat, meat products, and non-heat-treated poultry products, but not eggs and egg products.
Following many discussions with the EU over equivalence assessment missions, the agency said that EU’s decision was “extremely unexpected.”
Ukraine’s State Service reports that it is in discussion with the EU’s Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) with the aim of reversing the suspension of the trade. It has proposed a system of regionalization and zoning in relation to the reported HPAI outbreak in Vinnitsa. In addition, the Service has provided information on the biosecurity measures being applied in Ukraine to prevent the further spread of the infection.
“Ukrainian measures for the control and eradication of bird flu have been recognized as equivalent to those implemented by EU member states,” the Service said.
Based in Vinnitsa, leading poultry meat producer and exporter, Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) has stated it continues operations as normal, and is seeking alternative markets for its poultry meat.
Following the firm’s contingency plan for avian flu, its veterinarians are taking all possible measures to prevent outbreaks at its own production sites. Furthermore, its animal health professionals are helping other poultry producers in the region to strengthen their biosecurity.
Low-pathogenic avian influenza returns to Denmark
Following the national surveillance program, a low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus of the H5N1 subtype has been detected in an organic laying flock in north Jutland.
The 48,000 birds at the farm in Sæderup in the municipality of Aalborg are scheduled to be culled, according to the official report from the Danish animal health agency to the OIE. Their carcasses will be rendered. There are no other commercial poultry within the one-kilometer restriction zone set up around the outbreak.
Source of the infection is unknown. The same virus type was last reported in Denmark around six months ago, but in a different region and in ducks reared for game.
Belgian poultry farmers call for “lock-down”
Concerned about the risks to their birds of the apparently rapid recent spread of HPAI in central and eastern Europe, poultry farmers in Belgium have called on their government for help. Poultry owners want to be able to keep their birds housed, reports Brussels Times.
Falling temperatures in the flu-affected parts of Europe could encourage wild birds to move westwards, they say. As avian flu viruses can be transmitted by wild birds, this movement increases the health risks to Belgian chickens and turkeys.
Danny Coulier, president of the industry association in Flanders, said his members are calling on the government to introduce a mandatory lock-in for all poultry. This is despite the “unavoidable economic impact” of keeping their birds inside.
Poultry producers in the Netherlands have made a similar request to their government, according to the report.
During previous HPAI outbreaks, poultry producers have been allowed to keep their birds housed for a limited period during periods of high disease risk without losing the “free range” status of their products, which commands a price premium.
WHO: Public health risk from avian influenza
The overall public health risk from currently known influenza viruses at the human-animal interface has not changed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Sustained human-to-human transmission of these viruses remains low, it says. WHO warns that further human infections with viruses of animal origin are to be expected.
Since the first cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) were confirmed, there have been 861 confirmed cases of the disease worldwide, according to the WHO. Of these, 455 have died of the infection. Worst affected have been Egypt with 359 known cases, Indonesia with 200, and Vietnam with 127.
Peak case numbers linked to this virus occurred in 2006 with 115 cases (including 79 deaths). There was just one confirmed case in 2019—in Nepal—and none the previous year.
For the influenza A(H7N9) virus, the most recent case was in April of 2019. Since the first outbreak in March of 2013, there have been 1,568 confirmed human cases, according to the Centre for Health Protection in Hong Kong. The same source puts the total number of cases of avian influenza A(H5N6) since 2014 at 24 — all of them in Mainland China.
Over the past six months, there have been three confirmed cases of avian influenza A(H9N2), all in young children. Two of the cases were in China in October and November of 2019. The third case was in India in January of 2019, but not reported officially until much later in the year.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
