French concern over avian flu remains, despite fewer cases

While Poland and Sweden have registered a recent spate of new outbreaks in poultry and captive birds, the avian flu situation appears to be easing in the hard-hit southwest of France.

(sharafmaksumov | Bigstock)
(sharafmaksumov | Bigstock)

While Poland and Sweden have registered a recent spate of new outbreaks in poultry and captive birds, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) situation appears to be easing in the hard-hit southwest of France.

The latest information from the agriculture ministry of France, (as of March 4) puts the number of confirmed HPAI outbreaks since November of last year at 485. The number of poultry culled has not been updated since February 12, when it stood at three million — and those cases involved mainly ducks in the southwest of France.

This is just four more than the previous week. All these latest outbreaks were southwest France, this region’s total to 472. The worst affected departments are Landes (341 outbreaks), Gers (64), and Pyrénées-Atlantiques (56).

In addition, there have been 13 HPAI outbreaks in poultry in other regions of France, and HPAI virus has been detected in 14 wild birds at various locations across the country.

While Gers is not the French department most badly affected by HPAI, the disease is causing a great deal of concern. At a chamber of agriculture meeting last week, the disease was reported to be a threat to the future of waterfowl farming there, according to La Depeche. There were calls for renewed efforts to tackle the spread of infection, and for a more sustainable future for this sector.

According to a local veterinarian, the current virus is unforgiving of any lapses in biosecurity. Rather than being transmitted by wild birds, infections are spreading in the area through the air and materials, he said.

One possible solution is reducing the density of waterfowl production in the region. In Gers, the average number of ducks per square kilometer is 1,726 — similar to Landes, where the density is 1,946. Just four communities in each department account for 77% and 67%, respectively, of total output.

Sweden, Poland announce multiple new outbreaks

Since the start of this month, the Swedish Board of Agriculture has recorded six new outbreaks of HPAI in poultry.

First of these was in a small poultry flock at a zoo in Landskrona in the southern province of Skåne.  On the same day, a farm rearing poultry for showing was affected in Kungsbacka, which is in Halland county. Also in Skåne, 470 pheasants were involved in an outbreak at a game bird farm in Trelleborg, and a group of 11 chickens in a hobby flock in Lund.

Over the past few days, and outbreaks has been confirmed in an organic layer flock in Trelleborg. 

H5N5 HPAI virus variant has been detected in the Lund hobby flock and in the Trelleborg organic layers, and the H5N8 variant at the other affected premises.

The disease is also suspected in another poultry flock at Mjölby in Östergötland. This brings the country’s total outbreaks since November to 15.

With the latest announcements from the national chief veterinary office, Poland’s total for HPAI outbreaks in poultry this year has risen to 32.

Confirmed since the start of March, these include commercial flocks of 16,000 meat ducks in the province of Lodz; 97,600 laying hens in Lubusz; 19,000 breeding geese in Lower Silesia (Dolnoslaskie); 21,000 meat turkeys in Warmia-Masuria; 3,900 meat ducks in Greater Poland (Wielkopolskie); and 5,150 meat turkeys in Subcarpathia (Podkarpackie). In addition, the infection was discovered in two non-commercial flocks — one with 79 birds in Opole and one comprising 44 hens in Pomerania.

Other recent outbreaks among European poultry

During the third week of February, an HPAI outbreak linked to an H5 virus was confirmed in the Netherlands. According to the agriculture ministry, this involved a flock of laying hens near Sint-Oedenrode, which is in North Brabant. With the two farms that were within one kilometer of the outbreak, a total of almost 132,000 poultry were destroyed. Seven more distant farms were being tested. For these and 26 premises within 10 kilometers, there was a ban on the movement of all poultry.

The country’s most recent previous outbreak was in early January in a different district of North Brabant.

Following Estonia’s first HPAI outbreak in poultry, ERR News reports that a housing order was put in place for all poultry across the country from March 1. Any exemptions require official authorization. Furthermore, ducks and geese are to be kept separate from chickens and turkeys.

 

View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.

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