
Within the first two weeks of the start of the new year, Italy has already confirmed 16 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry flocks.
Over the past 10 days, veterinary agencies in four European countries have officially registered further HPAI outbreaks in their respective poultry flocks.
Confirming the highest number of new outbreaks in this category with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) was Italy with 26. Directly impacted were around 602,200 birds, although the data for some of the outbreaks are incomplete.
Starting in the period December 7 last year to January 7, these including one outbreak in a backyard flock, while the rest affected commercial flocks of up to 133,000 birds. This and 11 of the other outbreaks hit laying hens, along with five flocks of meat turkeys, four of broiler chickens, and one of ducks. By location, 13 of the affected premises were in the Lombardy region, and nine in Veneto.
Between October and the end of December in 2024, Italy has recorded 36 HPAI outbreaks in poultry — all involving the H5N1 HPAI virus serotype. At a further 16 premises with poultry, the presence of the virus has been confirmed since the start of this month.
HPAI reemerges on poultry farm in German region
Following a near two-year hiatus, the same HPAI virus variant has been detected in the southwest German state of Baden-Wurttemberg.
A few days ago, a flock of close to 11,000 meat turkeys tested positive for the virus in a district in the northeast of the state, which is adjacent to a recent outbreak in Bavaria.
Furthermore, the national veterinary reference laboratory, Friedrich-Loeffler Institute, has recently confirmed an infection with the same virus in a turkey from Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany.
To WOAH the Hungarian animal health authority has reported two more HPAI outbreaks on farms in Hajdu-Bihar. Latest to be infected there were two duck flocks — one raised for meat, and one for foie-gras production. They bring the total outbreaks in this east Hungarian county to 11.
For the year to date, there have been two outbreaks linked to the H5N1 virus in Poland.
According to WOAH notifications, these involved around 4,500 poultry in Lodz, and 28,300 in Masovia. These adjacent provinces are located in central Poland. The national chief veterinary office reports that the first involved a mixed flock, and the second comprised meat turkeys.
So far this year, seven European countries have confirmed HPAI in their respective commercial poultry flocks. This is according to the Animal Disease Information System by the European Commission (EC; as of January 15). Through its Animal Disease Information System, the EC monitors listed animal diseases in EU member states and adjacent countries.
Worst affected so far in 2025 has been Italy. Its total of 16 outbreaks to date includes 10 where the virus has been identified as belonging to the H5N1 serotype, and six to the H5 group (but not yet further specified).
Hungary’s total stands at three, Albania, Germany and Poland each have two confirmed outbreaks, while France and Portugal each have one. In all outbreaks in these six nations, the H5N1 variant was found to be present.
5 nations record HPAI in captive birds
Over the past two weeks, one HPAI outbreak in captive birds has been declared to WOAH in each of the following countries: Albania, Germany, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom (U.K.).
Furthermore, the first outbreak in this category of the year has occurred in the Czech Republic (Czechia), according to the state veterinary service.
While this category includes premises such as zoos, all of these affected flocks are described as backyard flocks of domestic poultry.
Wild cases confirmed in 11 European countries
Greenland has notified WOAH that a wild bird found dead in October of 2024 tested positive for the H5N5 HPAI virus serotype. This was the first signs of this virus variant in the country since the same month of the previous year.
Meanwhile, the same virus variant has been identified in six more wild birds found dead in Iceland, and another domestic cat has tested positive for the virus. Due to its poor condition, it was euthanized. The cat had been living far from an earlier outbreak in the same species in December, but contact with infected wild birds was also assumed to be the source of infection.
Reporting new cases of wild birds testing positive for the H5N1 HPAI virus to WOAH were Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, and the U.K.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation in poultry, and on disease developments in the U.S. dairy sector.