For the first time since last winter, a poultry flock in France has tested positive for HPAI virus of the H5 family.
Source of the infection is uncertain, but it may be linked to the proximity of the affected farm to areas visited by wildlife, according to the agriculture ministry.
Located in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, the premises is in the Brittany (Bretagne) region in northwest France. The ministry confirms that several seabirds from along the region’s coast have tested positive for HPAI in recent weeks.
Following confirmation of the infection, restriction zones were set up around the farm, including a protection zone within a 3-km radius, and a surveillance zone extending up to 10km around the outbreak.
Across the rest of France, the ministry describes the HPAI risk as “negligible.”
Of the 1,200 poultry at the farm, 190 died and the rest of the flock has been destroyed, according to the official notification to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
Starting in October of last year, the French authorities began an HPAI vaccination campaign, which aimed to protect the nation’s commercial duck flocks from future outbreaks.
Latest figures from the ministry put the number of birds receiving a first dose of vaccine at more than 47.9 million (as of August 1). That represents an increase of around 6.3 million since the end of June.
HPAI hits poultry in Germany, Portugal
Following a three-month hiatus, the H5N1 HPAI virus has been detected again in poultry flocks in the northwest German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
A total of 700 birds died at two commercial farms that appear to be around one kilometer apart, according to the WOAH notification. Affected were mixed flocks comprising ducks and geese for fattening, and chickens, totaling around 2,500 and 6,500 birds each.
To WOAH, the Portuguese veterinary authority has notified a confirmed HPAI outbreak starting earlier this week.
Testing positive for the H5N1 virus serotype was a non-commercial flock in the northern municipality of Viano do Castello. It comprised 100 laying hens, 60 of which died and the others have been destroyed.
Gradual increase in European wild bird cases
Over the past month, eight European countries have registered with WOAH one or more wild birds that have tested positive for HPAI virus of the H5 group.
The most cases — just over 40 — have been confirmed in France. Also recording recent cases have been Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.
HPAI developments in Africa, Asia-Pacific
Earlier this year, a series of HPAI outbreaks occurred in Australia, affecting mainly flocks of laying hens in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. Mortalities, culling of around 1.8 million birds, and movement restrictions led to shortages of eggs on supermarket shelves.
However, following the country’s largest ever HPAI outbreak in poultry, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that egg supplies are gradually returning to normal.
During the months of May and June, the animal health authority notified WOAH about a total of 12 HPAI outbreaks. Three different virus serotypes were detected at affected farms. In addition, four of Australia's non-commercial poultry flocks have tested positive for the virus.
At the end of July, the Cambodian veterinary agency notified WOAH about a second HPAI outbreak linked to the H5N1 virus variant.
Affected was a village flock of around 1,200 poultry in the southeastern province of Svay Rieng. This was more than 100km from the previous outbreak.
Since the end of June, no further HPAI outbreaks in South Africa have been reported to WOAH.
Between May and December of 2023, HPAI outbreaks involving the H7N6 virus serotype occurred in 115 poultry flocks across the country. Directly impacted were more than 11.3 million of the nation’s poultry.
2 new human cases in Cambodia
In its latest update on human infections with influenza A virus of avian origin, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports two new cases in Cambodia linked to the H5N1 virus.
During the last week of July, infections were confirmed in a four-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Both lived in Svay Rieng — the same province as the recent poultry outbreak — but the cases were not epidemiologically linked, according to WHO.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation in poultry, and on disease developments in the U.S. dairy sector.
