Poland’s total number of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks in poultry has reached 303, according to the European Reference Lab for avian influenza, IZSVe. Caused by the H5N8 virus variant, affected premises include 88 flocks of laying hens, 62 of fattening ducks, and 56 of meat turkeys.
The latest reports from the Polish chief veterinary office put total outbreaks up to May 6 at 300.
Over the past two weeks, 55 new outbreaks have been confirmed in poultry by this authority. All started between April 30 and May 6. Of this total, 28 of the affected flocks were located in Mazovia, while the rest were located in five other provinces — Greater Poland, Warmia-Masuria, Lublin, Pomerania, and Kuyavia-Pomerania.
Affected have been a range of different poultry flocks, including nine that are described as “non-commercial.” Among the others were one flock of almost 505,000 laying hens, another of 247,000 broilers, and a third with 35,700 breeding hens. Other substantial flocks to be impacted by HPAI over this period were those comprising 74,000 turkeys, 60,700 ducks, and 38,400 geese.
Based on reports from this agency, the total number of Polish poultry impacted by these outbreaks so far this year stands at more than 5.7 million.
According to IZSVe, the H5N8 virus has also been detected in 172 wild birds in Poland this year, while a wild duck tested positive for the H5N1 variant.
Heavy avian flu losses in poultry in Lower Saxony
Over the past two weeks, veterinary authorities in the German state of Lower Saxony have officially registered 56 new outbreaks of HPAI in poultry with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
One significant development is the first detection of the H5N1 HPAI virus in poultry in Lower Saxony. Four flocks have tested positive for this variant since February, directly impacting more than 22,000 poultry in three districts (Aurich, Emsland, and Emden). Affected were two flocks of meat turkeys, one of laying hens, and a mixed hobby flock. This virus subtype was last detected in the state in May of last year.
In the same state, 37 new outbreaks linked to the H5N8 HPAI virus have been reported to the OIE. Directly impacting almost 570,000 birds, the latest outbreaks started between February 21 and March 24. Affected were 24 farms with turkeys, three with breeding geese, two with laying hens, one each of broilers and fattening ducks, and two backyard flocks. The premises were located in six districts of Lower Saxony.
Together with some additional cases recently reported retrospectively, the latest outbreaks brought the total linked to this virus in the state since November last year to 64, involving more than one million poultry.
Further HPAI cases in three more German states
Also registering further losses at the location of a previous outbreak was the state of Schleswig-Holstein. This involved the loss of 2,344 more breeding geese through mortality and culling at a farm affected by the H5N8 HPAI virus back in December of 2020. Directly affecting more than 138,000 poultry, 10 outbreaks have been linked to this variant in the state since November of last year.
In the southwestern German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, 13 additional HPAI outbreaks linked to the H5N8 virus variant have been registered with the OIE. In contrast to the Lower Saxony outbreaks, these impacted small flocks of up to 42 laying hens. Involving a total of 215 poultry, they brought the losses of birds in this state to around 1,660.
Two additional HPAI outbreaks linked to the H5N8 virus in Thuringia have brought the total for this state to 36. According to the latest OIE report, latest to be affected were a total of 24 birds in two backyard flocks in the same district at the end of March.
Although these losses inflicted by HPAI on Germany’s poultry flocks have been heavy, there are indications that the outbreak peak may now have passed. For the past weeks, there has been a marked reduction in confirmed cases of HPAI released by the national veterinary reference laboratory, Friedrich-Loeffler Institute. Over the past two weeks, just two new virus-positive cases have been confirmed in poultry — both from turkeys from Lower Saxony.
Bulgaria reports two new HPAI outbreaks
Last week, the Bulgarian food safety agency confirmed two new HPAI outbreaks, both in laying flocks in Trilistnik. Located in the central province of Plovdiv, this village is now the location of three outbreaks in layers over recent weeks. One of the latest outbreaks was in a flock under the same ownership as the previous outbreak. The other had no links to the earlier outbreak except by location. At each location, the H5N8 virus variant has been detected.
According to the official report to the OIE, the three flocks comprised a total of 121,850 poultry.
Previously, the same virus variant had been found in another laying flock in the southern province of Haskovo. In early February, four outbreaks were reported in Pleven, which is in the north of Bulgaria, and borders Romania.
HPAI returns to Romania
HPAI virus of the H5N8 subtype has been detected in Romania for the first time in more than one year. According to the official report to the OIE, the disease was detected in a flock of more than 179,000 poultry in the central county of Mures last week. More than 9,600 of the birds died. Culling of the rest of the flock was underway.
Additional HPAI outbreaks elsewhere in European poultry
Last week, the veterinary authority of Lithuania officially registered 40 new outbreaks of HPAI linked to the H5N8 virus variant. These brought the country’s total since early January to 48 outbreaks.
While the earlier outbreaks were confined to wild swans, all the recently reported cases were in backyard poultry flocks of up to 54 birds, and started between April 23 and May 4. Majority of these outbreaks were in or near the capital, Vilnius. However, affected flocks were also identified in five other regions across the country — Alytus, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Panevezys, and Utena.
In the south Swedish county of Skane, increased mortality in a laying flock of 17,800 hens was linked to HPAI when the H5N8 virus variant was detected in mid-April. According to the latest official report to the OIE, around 3,000 of the birds died. The rest of the flock has been destroyed. This brought the total outbreaks linked to this virus in the region since early January to seven.
At the end of April, the H5N8 HPAI virus was detected in a hobby flock of 48 birds, according to the official report from the Austrian animal health authority. The premises was in Upper Austria, the same region as the previous outbreak during March. This brings the country’s total outbreaks to 20, including several in wild birds.
HPAI situation eases in France, and parts of Russia and Sweden
In France, the number of HPAI outbreaks in poultry remains unchanged at 492, according to the agriculture ministry. This confirmed cases at 475 premises in the southwest of the country, and 17 elsewhere. The number of wild and captive birds testing positive for HPAI has risen by one over the past week to 21. Latest case was two falcon chicks that died near Nancy in the northeastern department of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
According to the latest OIE report, no French poultry have tested positive for the H5N3 low pathogenic avian influenza virus variant since early March.
Over the past week, OIE has received reports from veterinary agencies that no new cases of HPAI have been detected in Finland, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Russia’s animal health agency has declared to the OIE that the H5N8 HPAI situation in Kostroma oblast has been “resolved.” This followed notification of further mortalities at a farm with almost 297,000 poultry, starting in October of 2020. The outbreak in this region of the Central federal district was declared resolved at the end of April.
In the southern region of Ostergotland, the Swedish authorities report that H5N8 HPAI outbreaks have come to an end. Between late February and mid-March, there were five confirmed outbreaks in this region, directly affecting more than 120,000 poultry at five locations.
HPAI situation in wild birds in Europe
Over the past two weeks, the respective agencies of three countries have reported to the OIE new cases of wild birds testing positive for HPAI.
The H5N8 virus variant has been detected in wild birds in the German state of Lower Saxony, as well as in Norway and Sweden (Skane and Vastra Gotland). Also in Lower Saxony, the H5N1 variant has been detected in more wild birds.
Meanwhile, a number of other states have officially registered no new cases among their wild populations, including Finland (H5N8), France (H5N1, H5N3 and H5N8), Latvia (H5N8), and Sweden (H5).
Following just one outbreak linked to each of the H5N5 and H5 HPAI virus subtypes in the region, the Russian veterinary body has declared the situation “resolved” in the Republic of Dagestan. The handful of detections of these viruses were in this region of the North Caucasian federal district during March of this year.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
