Nepal records first human case of avian flu, more in poultry

The first human case of avian influenza A H5N1 has been confirmed in Nepal, while new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry have been reported in Mexico, Nepal and Taiwan.

Ivdonata | Shutterstock
Ivdonata | Shutterstock

The first human case of avian influenza A H5N1 has been confirmed in Nepal, while new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry have been reported in Mexico, Nepal and Taiwan.

The number of outbreaks of HPAI linked to the H5N1 virus variant in Nepal’s poultry sector has reached 10 since March of this year, according to official reports from the agriculture ministry to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). The total number of birds lost directly to the disease through mortality or culling to prevent further spread now exceeds 100,000.

According to the latest report to the OIE, there was one outbreak during the third week of April in Bagmati, the zone where most of the previous outbreaks have occurred. Almost 200 of the ducks of mixed ages at the farm died, and the rest have been destroyed.

Nepal has also confirmed its first human case of avian influenza A (H5N1). The patient, a 21-year-old male, died at the end of March, reports The Himalayan Times. According to the World Health Organization, the last patient to be confirmed with this virus anywhere in the world was in 2017.

HPAI hits large farms in Mexico

New outbreaks of HPAI of the H7N3 subtype have been confirmed in two new states in Mexico, and involved the first large commercial farms.

In the central state of Queretaro, the virus was detected in five birds during routine surveillance, and all 138,632 birds were subsequently slaughtered. The following week, a veterinarian reported to the authorities that 172 birds of a backyard flock of 598 birds had died in the neighboring state of Hidalgo. The presence of the virus there was later confirmed.

A combination of active surveillance and notification has been effective in identifying the latest outbreaks, according to the report of the Mexican animal health agency, SENASICA, to the OIE. The two latest outbreaks are in regions with a low prevalence of HPAI, and vaccination is permitted with prior authorization from the agency.

The latest cases bring Mexico’s total number of HPAI outbreaks reported to the OIE since March of this year to six, with almost 142,000 poultry lost to the disease through mortality or culling. Previous outbreaks were in the states of Mexico and Jalisco.

Since the OIE report, a further flock of 180,000 hens in Queretaro state — in the municipality of Huimilpan — has tested positive for the HPAI virus, according to SENASICA. The agriculture ministry ordered the culling of the flock to prevent further spread of the infection.

Geese, chickens hit by Taiwan’s latest HPAI outbreaks

Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture has informed OIE about two new outbreaks of HPAI linked to the H5N2 virus variant in mid-April.

Latest to be affected were a farm with 1,139 meat geese in the Yunlin county town of Dongshi, and one with more than 31,000 native chickens in Erlin in Changhua county. More than 4,000 of the chickens died, all the remaining birds at both locations have been culled, and intensive surveillance will be carried out on nearby poultry flocks for three months.

Previous outbreak series linked to an H5-type HPAI virus from 2018, and a low-pathogenic form of the H5N6 from 2017 have been “resolved,” according to a report received by the OIE from the Council in the past week.

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