UK: DEFRA Warns On Avian Flu Threat

 

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Since early August we've been following numerous reports of HPAI H5 avian influenza outbreaks (see Russia's Worsening HPAI H5 Outbreak (in Poultry), spreading across several western Siberian oblasts, very near their border with, and extending into Kazakhstan. 

Last week, in FLI: Risk Assessment Of HPAI H5 Affecting Germany This Fall & Winter, we saw an assessment by Germany's Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut that warned of a high risk of HPAI's entry from wild birds during their autumn bird migration.

A week prior to that, a report from ECDC & EFSA Warned Of Avian Flu Risk To Europe, amplifying concerns raised in early September by DEFRA. 

The major migratory bird flyways (shown below) - along with scores of minor pathways not depicted - serve as a global interstate highway for avian influenza viruses. While primarily north-south conduits, there is enough overlap to allow for east-west movement as well.

Although avian flu activity has been on the decline in Europe since their record-breaking HPAI H5 outbreak ended in the spring of 2017, these recent reports are reminiscent of the run-up to that 2016-2017 epizootic (see OIE: Russia - HPAI H5 In Wild & Migratory Birds), which saw a highly virulent reassorted HPAI H5N8 virus arrive in Europe that fall.

While primarily a threat to the poultry industry, some clades and/or subtypes of HPAI H5 have infected humans, and so there is always a slim possibility of seeing a public health impact as well. 

In an attempt to forestall any large scale incursion of avian flu into the UK, today DEFRA published the following press release, urging poultry keepers to increase their biosecurity.

Press release
Poultry farmers and pet bird keepers urged to prepare for winter avian flu

Poultry keepers are urged to prepare for winter avian flu and reduce the risk of disease in their birds over the winter

Published 13 October 2020

From:Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Animal and Plant Health Agency, and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Northern Ireland)

Chief Veterinary Officers across the UK are encouraging poultry keepers to take action to reduce the risk of disease in their birds over the winter. The advice comes as part of the UK’s annual winter avian flu awareness campaign.

The UK is currently free of avian flu, but highly pathogenic avian influenza is causing outbreaks in Russia and Kazakhstan and as winter approaches the risk of migratory wild birds infecting domestic poultry will rise. It is therefore very important that poultry farmers and pet bird keepers take action to improve biosecurity.

There are some simple measures that all poultry keepers, whether they are running a large commercial farm, keeping a few hens in their back garden, or rearing game birds, should take to protect their birds against the threat of avian flu in the coming winter months.

These include:

• Keeping the area where birds live clean and tidy, controlling rats and mice and regularly cleansing and disinfecting any hard surfaces
• Cleaning footwear before and after visits
• Placing birds’ feed and water in fully enclosed areas that are protected from wild birds, and removing any spilled feed regularly
• Putting fencing around outdoor areas where birds are allowed and limiting their access to ponds or areas visited by wild waterfowl
• Where possible, avoid keeping ducks and geese with other poultry species.

A joint statement by the four Chief Veterinary Officers in the UK said:

“Avian flu is a constant threat to all poultry, and with winter approaching there will be an increasing risk of disease making its way into the UK from migrating birds. It is therefore important that all keepers of poultry, including game birds and pet birds, act now to reduce the risk of transmission of avian flu to their flocks.

“Enhanced biosecurity should be maintained at all times, including regularly cleaning and disinfecting the area where you keep birds and separating them from wild birds wherever possible.

“Poultry keepers across the UK are urged to remain vigilant and alert APHA in Great Britain or DAERA in Northern Ireland as soon as possible if they suspect any signs of the disease.”

 (Continue . . . )

While Europe has borne the brunt of epizootic H5Nx the past several winters, in 2014-15 it was North America's turn, after the virus jumped from Asia to the Pacific Northwest - and beyond.

The virus was carried - primarily by migratory birds - to 15 states, where more than 220 farms were infected and more than 50 million commercially raised birds were lost or destroyed.

HPAI H5Nx   Status July 2015

Just as in Europe, there is a need to bolster biosecurity here in the United States, as we can never know when the next avian flu virus will arrive (see H5Nx: Why North America Must Remain Alert).  The USDA has some advice on how to Defend The Flock at the website below.

For more on how avian flu strains from Asia and Europe might arrive in North America, you may wish to revisit:

EID Journal: Introduction of Eurasian-Origin Influenza A(H8N4) Virus into North America by Migratory Birds

PLoS One: North Atlantic Flyways Provide Opportunities For Spread Of Avian Influenza Viruses

EID Journal: Reassortment in Wild Birds in Alaska before H5 Clade 2.3.4.4 Outbreaks