#15,533
With reports of HPAI H5N8 and HPAI H5N5 increasing across Europe and Asia (see A Roundup Of HPAI Reports From Germany, Russia, The Netherlands & Japan), we've seen calls for greater biosecurity across both regions.
Yesterday, in UK DEFRA: Suspected Avian Flu Outbreak In Kent, England, we saw the first farm outbreak of avian flu n the UK since 2019, which has subsequently been identified as a low path (LPAI) H5N2.
From DEFRA's announcement yesterday:
Avian influenza (bird flu) identified at Kent farm
The risk of public health from the virus is very low and this strain of avian influenza does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.
Published 2 November 2020
From:Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Food Standards Agency, Public Health England, and Animal and Plant Health Agency
Avian influenza of the H5N2 strain has been confirmed in at a small commercial premises near Deal in Kent today (2 November).
All 480 birds on site will be humanely culled to limit the spread of the disease. A 1km Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) Restricted Zone has also been put in place around the infected farm to limit the risk of the disease spreading.
The advice from Public Health England (PHE) is that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency has made clear that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers. Thoroughly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.
Overnight, a second farm in Cheshire - some 250 miles to the Northwest - has reported avian H5N8 (pathogenicity to be determined), and roughly 13,000 birds will be destroyed. At this point, it isn't clear whether this outbreak is linked to the H5N8 outbreaks recently reported in the Netherlands and Germany.
This, again, from DEFRA.
The risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency advises that bird flu poses a very low food safety risk.Published 2 November 2020Avian influenza of the H5N8 strain has been confirmed at a premises near Frodsham in Cheshire today (Monday 2 November).Further testing is underway to determine if it is a highly pathogenic strain and whether it is related to the virus currently circulating in Europe.All 13,000 birds at the farm will be humanely culled to limit the spread of the disease. 3km and 10km temporary control zones have been put in place around the infected site to limit the risk of the disease spreading.This case is unrelated to the H5N2 strain which was confirmed in at a small commercial premises near Deal in Kent earlier today.
After three years of declining activity in Europe, avian influenza appears to be once again on the ascendant, and is reminiscent of what we saw during the summer and fall of 2016 prior to Europe's massive avian epizootic.
In the past (see EID Journal: HPAI H5N8 In Migratory Birds - Qinghai Lake, 2016), similar upticks have often been associated with recently accrued changes in the avian virus (see EID Journal: Reassorted HPAI H5N8 Clade 2.3.4.4. - Germany 2016).
Although it is dated today (Nov 3rd), the following DEFRA report was prepared on October 30th, and therefore does not contain details on the two UK outbreaks of the past 24 hours. This is a followup to the report I blogged on October 23rd.
While mostly a review of recent European avian flu activity, one potentially significant tidbit alludes to this current spate of HPAI H5N8 viruses as being genetically distinguishable from the H5N8 viruses that were circulating in Europe last spring.
Follow the link to read the full report, as I've only included a brief excerpt.Preliminary analyses available indicates strong similarity amongst these viruses across a broad region and they can be distinguished from other contemporaneously circulating viruses including those associated with widespread infection in the first six months of this year across Europe. This information indicates a relatively large infection pressure and therefore continuing risk for further incursions and spread. We would expect to see typical patterns of high mortality in chickens and turkeys, as well as some mortality in ducks and geese.
Updated Outbreak Assessment #2
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in The Netherlands and West Europe
30 October 2020 Ref: VITT/1200 HPAI in Europe
Disease Report
Since our last report on 22 October, The Netherlands has reported an outbreak of HPAI H5 in poultry approximately 20km west of Nijmegen. There were 35,750 birds on the holding, 400 of which were affected, the rest were destroyed and carcasses disposed of in line with Council Directive 2005/94/EC. A 3km Surveillance Zone (SZ) and 10km Protection Zone have been established and nine further poultry premises identified and screened within the SZ, though none were displaying clinical signs of infection. The results are expected soon. The outbreak was 50km to the west of the first case of H5N8 reported in wild birds on 20th October.
The Netherlands have also reported a further case of HPAI H5N8 in wild birds, a Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) found dead in a wetland area by the coast, approximately 50km west of the first case in wild birds on 22 October, disease was confirmed by their national reference laboratory on 26 October.
Germany have reported a case in a wild bird on 30 October. A Eurasian Wigeon was found ill in Hamburg, which subsequently tested positive for HPAI and was euthanised.
Germany have been on high alert for HPAI since the beginning of October (FLI, 2020) and increased their surveillance efforts.
There have been further outbreaks of HPAI H5N8 reported in Russia, two outbreaks in poultry affecting 280,000 and 1,200 birds were confirmed in the west of the country on 27 October; this follows previous outbreaks in poultry and cases in wild waterbirds in southern central Russia, and along the border into Kazakhstan. In addition the same virus as reported in Kazakhstan (Offlu, 2020) has been confirmed in poultry in Iraq by the IRL for Avian Influenza at APHA.
