#12,854
In what is another sign that H5N8 may be on the move this fall via migratory birds - Cyprus - which came through last year's epizootic completely unscathed, reported their first detection of HPAI H5N8 to the OIE today.
The virus was identified in the carcass of a dead common buzzard retrieved earlier in the month (see map above).This announcement comes on the heels of an update from DEFRA today which warns that the risk of HPAI H5 incursion via migratory birds has increased.
The official OIE Notification follows:
Eurasian buzzard (common buzzard):Buteo buteo(Accipitridae)
Affected population
A dead wild bird (Buteo buteo) was submitted to the veterinary services in the framework of the avian influenza (AI) surveillance program in wild birds. On the 4th of October 2017, it was tested positive by M-gene RT-PCR (Influenza A) at the National Reference Laboratory. On the same day, RT-PCR testing was performed for the detection of H5 or H7 AI virus and it proved to be H5 positive. On the 9th of October 2017, intestinal contents and intestinal tissues were sent to the OIE Reference Laboratory for confirmation and molecular sequencing and were confirmed to be H5N8 positive on the 19th of October 2017. On the 23rd of October, molecular sequencing was completed and a cleavage site motif of PLREKRRKRGLF i.e. HPAI H5 was obtained.
