#16,962
Two days ago, in Ain't No Cure For the Summer Bird Flu, we looked at the continuing impact and spread of avian HPAI viruses over the summer, and prospects for another wave of avian flu to sweep the globe this fall and winter.
The above map - showing the current wave (since Oct 2021) of AIV with zoonotic potential around the globe shows a big increase over the previous year - but doesn't tell the whole story. There are large swaths of the globe where avian flu outbreaks are simply not being reported.
Even sporadic human infections with these viruses likely go unreported, particularly in parts of Asia and Africa. Some of these lapses are undoubtedly due to a lack of surveillance and testing resources, while others are likely deliberate obfuscations of cases for political or economic reasons.
In either event, the recent lack of reports of human infection should be taken with a grain of salt.
The following FAO update is a data dense report that will likely be of greatest interest to those who follow or track avian flu outbreaks around the world. I've only included a snippet, so follow the link to read it in its entirety.
The next update is expected towards the end of September.
24 August 2022, 17:00 hours; Rome
Overview
Situation: This update covers avian influenza viruses with zoonotic potential occurring worldwide, i.e. H5Nx, H7Nx highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses and H5Nx, H6N1, H7Nx, H9N2, H10N7, H10N8 low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI).
Specific information is available for Avian Influenza A(H7N9) virus viruses and Sub-Saharan Africa HPAI in related FAO Avian Influenza situation updates.
HPAI outbreaks in animals officially reported since last update (27 July 2022): in total, 561 outbreaks have been reported in four geographic regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, and Europe) caused by by HPAI (1), H5 HPAI (1) and H5N1 HPAI (559) (see Table 1 for details).
LPAI events in animals officially reported since last update (27 July 2022): 0 new events were reported.
Number of human cases officially reported since last update (27 July 2022): 1 new influenza A(H9N2) human case was reported in Guangdong Province, China on 9 August 2022. The mild case involved a young child with illness onset on 1 August 2022.
