Last month, a further outbreak of HPAI linked to the H5N5 virus variant occurred in Taiwan.
According to the veterinary authority’s official report to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), this occurred in a flock of almost 16,000 broiler breeders in the Douliu city region of Yunlin county. These were the first Taiwanese cases for almost two months, while the outbreak was the ninth in the county so far this year.
This latest outbreak brings Taiwan’s total since September of 2019 to 70. Almost 574,000 poultry have been directly impacted through mortality or culling of infected flocks.
Iran registers no new bird flu cases
Over the past week, Iran’s veterinary agency has sent an updated HPAI report to the OIE, registering no new cases of the disease.
Since December of last year, more than 1.3 million Iranian poultry were involved in 55 HPAI outbreaks linked to the H5N8 virus variant. The country’s most recent reported cases were detected at a poultry market two months ago.
New human cases of avian influenza in China
Over the past month, five new cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N6) virus have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). All were in China, and had known contact with poultry.
Information from the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China covers an infection in a 51-year-old woman in Sichuan province. A farmer, she was exposed to backyard poultry, and died on July 4.
Later in June, two other cases — one from another city in Sichuan, and one from Chongqing province — were also backyard farmers aged 57 and 66 years, respectively. They also had previous contact with poultry, and were hospitalized in a critical condition with pneumonia at the time of reporting.
Subsequently, two more female farmers tested positive for the same virus variant in China. Suffering mild symptoms was a 61-year-old farmer in Guangxi province, who had previously visited a live poultry market. The other case was a 65-year-old who had had contact with sick and dead poultry in Sichuan province. Her condition was also described as “critical.”
No contacts of these patients appear to have developed symptoms of infection.
According to WHO data, 38 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with influenza A(H5N6) virus — including 21 deaths — have been reported in the Western Pacific Region since 2014.
In its latest update, Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection reports a further case linked to the same virus in China, making six new human infections in the country. A 55-year-old woman from Hunan province is reported to be in a serious condition. This brings the world total cases to 39. Just one of these was outside mainland China.
Last month, a boy in the Indian state of Haryana tested positive for the avian influenza A(H5N1) virus before he died of another illness.
New region affected by avian flu in Ghana
At the end of July, the avian flu virus was detected in the Ashanti region of Ghana, according to Modern Ghana.
Together with previously affected Greater Accra, Central, and Volta, the number of affected regions affected in the West African state has reached four. Outbreaks have been reported in at least eight locations.
In Ashanti, depopulation of affected premises commenced immediately, the regional veterinary office reported. A ban was put in place on all poultry and products within and from affected zones in Ghana.
Last month, six outbreaks linked to an H5 HPAI virus variant were reported by the national animal health agency to the OIE. Last time the H5 virus was detected in Ghana was in July of 2018. To the east is Togo, where the H5N1 HPAI virus has been present since early June of this year.
According to Ghana Web, 12 regions of the country have been placed on alert for avian flu. As well as the area with outbreaks, these also include the northern regions, three Bono regions, and the Western, Western-North, Eastern, and Oti regions. While the source of infection remains unknown, more than 5,800 poultry are reported to have died, and infections have exceeded 58,000 in the period July 9-14.
Togo reports second HPAI outbreak series
At the end of July, authorities in the neighboring Togolese Republic (Togo) reported a second HPAI outbreak series in poultry linked to the H5N1 HPAI virus. This involved 1,590 birds in two flocks of laying hens at one premises at Sagbado. Around 130 of the birds died, and the rest have been destroyed.
According to the official report, this outbreak is not epidemiologically linked to two earlier outbreaks in the same region of Maritime. Previous cases were more than 30 kilometers away from the latest outbreak. Furthermore, the source of infection has been identified as bags used for litter that had been reused several times. The Sagbado farm is very close to the border with Ghana, where HPAI cases had been detected just 10 days previously.
Two more outbreaks in South African poultry flocks
During the last week of July, two poultry flocks in KwaZulu-Natal were hit by HPAI, according to the latest official report to the OIE. The H5N1 virus variant was detected in commercial flocks of around 20,000 and 25,000 birds in the municipality of Mkhambathini.
Latest cases bring to 46 the number of confirmed outbreaks linked to this virus in South Africa in the current HPAI wave. More than 2.8 million poultry have been directly impacted by the infection since March of this year.
Among other birds, a group of 800 domestic African grey parrots tested positive for the same virus variant in early July. A separate report to the OIE indicates the birds as belonging to a trader in Limpopo, This is the most northerly province in South Africa.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation
