Monday, November 02, 2020

UK DEFRA: Suspected Avian Flu Outbreak In Kent, England

Kent, England - Credit Wikipedia

 #15,531

Yesterday, in A Roundup Of HPAI Reports From Germany, Russia, The Netherlands & Japan, we looked at the increased spread of HPAI H5 (H5N8 & H5N5) viruses in both Europe and Asia after a multi-year hiatus, and recent warnings from various agricultural agencies including DEFRA in the UK.

Today DEFRA has announced a suspected outbreak of avian flu at a poultry farm in Kent, on the southeastern coast of England.

Tests are pending, and while we don't have any details on the subtype or pathogenicity of this suspected outbreak, the decision has been made to cull all of the birds at this location.

While the UK has reported a handful of low path H5 infections over the past couple of years, their last Highly Pathogenic outbreak was reported in mid-2017. 

There are two broad categories of avian influenza; LPAI (Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza) and HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza).
  • LPAI viruses are quite common in wild birds, cause little illness, and only rarely death. They are not considered to be a serious threat to public health, although H5 & H7 strains have the potential to mutate into HPAI strains.
  • HPAI viruses are more dangerous, can produce high morbidity and mortality in wild birds and poultry, and can sometimes infect humans with serious result. The number of HPAI viruses that scientists have been tracking has increased markedly over the past 6 years, and now includes H5N1, H5N2, H5N6, H5N8, H10N8, H7N9, and others.
Until the first decade of the 21st century, there was no uniform requirement to report or track LPAI infections in poultry. That changed in 2006 when the OIE made reporting of LPAI H5 & H7 viruses mandatory.

While other LPAI subtypes are not currently reportable to the OIE (see Terrestrial Animal Code Article 10.4.1.), that doesn't make them entirely benign. We've seen human infections with H9N2 and H6N1, neither of which are reportable to the OIE.

The concern with LPAI H5 and H7 viruses in particular is that when they are not controlled - and are allowed to spread in poultry - they have the potential to mutate into highly pathogenic strains.

LPAI H5 viruses are generally considered to pose a very low risk of infection to humans, although those risks are not zero.

What little we know about today's outbreak is summarized in the following excerpt from today's announcement from DEFRA.


Following testing at a small commercial poultry premises near Deal, Dover District in Kent, the UK government has decided to slaughter the flock on suspicion of avian influenza and declare a 1km temporary movement restriction zone for captive birds.

These are precautionary measures and avian influenza has not been confirmed on the site. Details of the measures that apply in the zone can be found in the declaration.
Declaration of a Temporary Movement Restriction Zone (Avian Influenza) (PDF, 556KB, 5 pages)

These temporary measures will remain in place until disease is confirmed or ruled out.

Check if you are in the zone on our interactive map.

Based on current understanding, Public Health England advises that the risk to the public’s health is very low. The Food Standards Agency advises that avian influenza does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.
Avian influenza is unconnected with coronavirus (Covid-19).
The risk of bird flu occurring in the UK is “medium” in wild birds, and “low” in poultry (provided there’s a good standard of biosecurity). This is because the wild bird migration season is underway, and as winter approaches there will be an increasing risk from bird flu in the UK from migrating wild birds (which might infect domestic poultry).

If you keep poultry (including game birds or as pets), you should follow our biosecurity best practice advice. You should remain vigilant for any signs of disease in your flock and report any sign of avian influenza to Defra Rural Services Helpline on 03000 200 301.

Defra and APHA are monitoring the situation to assess the risk to the UK poultry.

Anyone who finds dead wild birds should report them to the Defra helpline on 03459 33 55 77 (select option 7).

You can sign up to our Alerts Service to keep up to date with the latest news. You don’t need to sign up if you have registered your poultry.

While the public health threat from most avian flu subtypes remains low, the economic impact of another avian zoonotic - such as we saw in North America in 2014-2015, and Europe in 2016-2017 - can be substantial.  

With migratory birds on the move across the Northern Hemisphere, and an apparent resurgence in HPAI H5 viruses among them, poultry interests around the globe should be paying particular attention to biosecurity this fall and winter. 

And that goes for the United States and Canada as well, as we can never know when avian flu will return (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 return to North America, you may wish to revisit:



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