#17,627
It's been about a week since our last update from Finland's Food Safety Authority (Ruokavirasto) on Fur farms infected with H5N1 (see Media Report: Finland Food Agency To Test All Fur Farms For Avian Flu), but today we have a statement indicating a 25th fur farm has been infected, and a status update on the number of animals that have been ordered euthanized.
Initially, Ruokavirasto announced that all mink from infected farms would be culled - amounting to between 50,000 and 70,000 animals. But concerns have been raised about allowing the virus to spread among foxes and other fur bearing animals.
Two weeks ago Finland's THL stated:
Today's update from the Food Safety Authority indicates that as many as 120,000 animals have been ordered euthanized, across 13 facilities. With a dozen more farms already identified as infected, and as many as 400 farms yet to be tested, it is likely that these numbers will increase over time.Although mink is considered to be the most problematic animal species in terms of avian influenza virus infections, there are also risks associated with bird flu epidemics in dense, large animal populations of foxes and other fur-bearing animals, that the virus becomes more adaptable to mammals.
Bird flu was found at a new fur farm, seagulls died of the disease in Mikkeli
August 21, 2023
Highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been found in a new fur farm in Kauhava. In total, bird flu has now been found in 25 fur farms in Ostrobothnia, more than half of which are from the same locality, Kausti. The same virus has been confirmed as the cause of death of the laughing seagulls found in the center of Mikkeli in laboratory tests by the Food Agency.
The latest case of bird flu was found in blue foxes sent from a fur farm in Kauhava. The transformation of the virus has been found in five shelters. Termination decisions have been issued for 13 of the infected farms and a total of approximately 120,000 animals have been ordered to be euthanized. Terminations have been completed at 10 shelters, and terminations are currently underway at three shelters.
The bird flu epidemic started in the fur farms in mid-July. The disease probably spread to Pohja farms from laughing gulls, where bird flu infections have been particularly high this summer throughout Europe.
The first seagull deaths in Eastern Finland
The laughing gulls found in the center of Mikkeli are the first confirmed cases of bird flu in Eastern Finland during this epidemic. A total of 28 confirmed cases of bird flu in wild birds have been found this year.
In addition to infection zones, the Food Agency recommends keeping birds in the whole of Finland or otherwise ensuring that wild birds do not come into contact with poultry and captive birds or the feed and water offered to them. At the same time, the Food Agency reminds us of the importance of disease protection in poultry farms and other places where birds are kept, in order to prevent bird flu infections.
Bird flu is easily spread from wild birds to poultry and other birds if the birds come into contact with each other directly or, for example, through feed contaminated with feces.
Inform the official veterinarian about disease suspicions
If symptoms suggestive of bird flu, abnormal mortality or changes in production are observed in poultry or other birds, the municipal or county veterinarian must be notified immediately. A decrease in water and feed consumption or egg production can be signs of bird flu infection.
Mass deaths of wild birds and individual dead birds of prey must also be reported to the municipal or county veterinarian. The municipal veterinarian takes care of sending the necessary samples to the Food Agency.
Avian flu viruses are poorly contagious to humans, and infection usually requires close contact with an infected wild bird, poultry or their secretions.
More information:
Research professor Tuija Gadd, phone 029 520 4183 (veterinary virology)
Head of Unit Riikka Holopainen, phone 029 520 4273 (animal health research)
E-mails: firstname.surname@ruokavirasto.fi
Read more:
Bird flu in Finland
Sending samples
Protecting the holding area from animal diseases
