The Goose Guangdong lineage of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) currently circulating in the world has affected more poultry than the previous 44 known variants of HPAI combined, according to Dr. David Swayne, poultry veterinarian and avian influenza specialist, speaking at International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) 2024.
He continued that 45 different genetic lineages of HPAI virus have resulted in “events” in poultry. Forty-one of these viruses have been eliminated but this latest lineage has proved to be more long-lasting.
The Goose Guangdong lineage of H5N1, first detected in a goose the Chinese province of Guangdong in 1996, has been the most destructive of all the HPAI viruses over the last 100 years, and has been detected in over 122 countries since first being identified.
The longest and largest
Over time, the virus has spread out of China to a number of Asian countries, and on to the Middle East, Africa, North and, most recently, South America.
Spread by migratory birds, the virus has affected an increasing number of avian species and has spread into some land and sea mammals.
The current outbreak has been the longest and largest ever recorded with nothing similar known to have occurred since the early 1900s when birds were diagnosed as suffering from fowl plague.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
