#13,895
While HPAI H5 reports have been fairly subdued for the past year, we've begun to see a small increase in activity, with recent outbreaks of H5N1 in India (see here and here), H5N6 in China, and H5N8 in a penguin colony in Namibia.
As we've discussed previously, major bird flu seasons - such as we saw in 2016-2017 - are generally followed by one or more less severe years (see chart below), and so this recent lull in activity is not unprecedented,
Overnight the OIE published the first notification of HPAI H5N8 from Pakistan in nearly a year, when a captive game bird (Macaw) at the Lahore zoo was found to be infected.
Today's OIE notification involves two outbreaks (early January & early February) of H5N8 affecting four species of wild birds (Mallard, Guinea Fowl, Swan & House Crow) in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection
Unknown or inconclusive
Epidemiological comments
Clinical symptoms swan, duck and Guinea fowl included diarrhea, respiratory signs and sudden death. The dead swan, duck and Guinea fowl were submitted to the National Reference Laboratory for Poultry Diseases (NRLPD) and tested positive for influenza A H5N8 virus. A dead crow was sent by an official from the British High Commission to the NRLPD for analysis and tested positive for influenza A H5N8 virus.
