Udmurt Republic - Credit Wikipedia |
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For the past month we've been following two different, but connected, HPAI H5N8 bird flu stories out of Russia.
- The first involves outbreaks of avian flu in poultry flocks from a growing number of regions, including Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Kalmykia, Chechnya and Moscow, Astrakhan and Rostov regions (see HPAI H5: Exports Banned From 6 Russian Regions).
- The second involves the shipment of bird flu contaminated products to wholesale and retail outlets across the country (see Rosselkhoznador: HPAI Contaminated Poultry Shipped To At Least 9 Regions Of Russia).
While HPAI H5N8 is considered to present a very low human health risk, there are concerns that bird flu contaminated products might help spread the virus to poultry in currently unaffected regions.
A week ago, we learned about the detection of infected poultry products in the Kirov Region and the Udmurt Republic.While it may or may not be related to the spread of contaminated food products, today the Udmurt Republic is reporting outbreaks of avian flu on two private farms in Malopurginskiy area.
Bird flu has reached the Udmurt Republic
May 25, 2017 in Malopurginskiy area of the Udmurt Republic in two private farms registered avian influenza type A. In the study in the Udmurt veterinary diagnostic center in Izhevsk pathological material from dead birds isolated the genetic material of the virus of influenza A. To confirm the diagnosis and typing of the 05/25/2017 virus material sent to the State Organization "ARRIAH" in Vladimir.
State Veterinary Service of the Republic of Udmurtia measures are taken in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of 27.03.2006 number 90 "On approval of rules for combating avian influenza."
We kindly ask the population to adhere to the following rules:
- Avoid contact of poultry with wild and synanthropic birds: to provide watering of birds, preventing them to open bodies of water; provide under confinement birds build fences mesh with awnings; prohibited catch wild waterfowl for the content of individual farms; not to carry out evisceration of game hunting in the territory of households and not to feed the waste pet; isolated storage to provide feed indoors; organize isolated storage equipment for care of poultry, keep it clean; produce timely cleaning yards and paddocks of debris and bird waste products; to carry out feeding birds in the area.Remember that mortality in poultry bird flu can reach 100%.
- Ensure the separation of the different species of birds.
- Acquire the young birds and hatching eggs from safe sources, refraining from buying live birds at markets and trade in unauthorized places.
- Do not allow unauthorized persons to domestic poultry.
- Avoid eating and feeding of animals in suspect poultry disease.
- Use feathers in life after the heat treatment (scalding).
- Daily inspect all the birds in the yard.
- Prepare stock disinfectants (chloramine, bleach) and to disinfect poultry houses and equipment after their complete purification.
- Provide disinfection manure and litter by incineration or biothermal method.
- Observe good personal hygiene: care for the bird to carry out in special clothing, wash hands with soap and water after leaving, evisceration with gloves, etc.
- At the first signs of the disease and the anomalous behavior of the birds, and in case of sudden mass death should immediately contact the local veterinary service to identify the causes of the disease and to prevent epizootic.
While avian flu reports continue to dwindle in Western Europe, we've now seen reports of HPAI H5 outbreaks in poultry from at least 10 regions of Russia over the past 30 days.
If that weren't concerning enough, Russia is also watching the northward drift of H7N9 in China - recently reported in poultry in Inner Mongolia - as a threat to their southern border (see China MOA: Suspected HPAI H7N9 Outbreak In Tianjin).And it isn't lost on the rest of the world - but particularly in Europe - that the changes to the H5N8 virus that made it more virulent in birds this past winter, appear to have occurred over last summer in migratory birds in Russia,China, and Mongolia (see EID Journal: Reassorted HPAI H5N8 Clade 2.3.4.4. - Germany 2016).
All of which means that increased bird flu activity across these same regions again this summer is far from a welcome sign.