#18,861
With another seasonal surge in HPAI H5 expected in the coming weeks or months, two days ago South Korea's CDC Announced A 19-day, Nationwide, Mock-Training Exercise to Prepare for Zoonotic Influenza.
Over the past several years we've seen an uptick in avian, mammalian, and human infections - from both clade 2.3.4.4b and 2.3.2.1x viruses - raising concerns over their growing zoonotic potential.
While no one can truly know how close we might be to an avian flu pandemic, many countries take the risk seriously. A few recent cautionary reports include:
Preprint: Genetic Reassortment and Diversification of Host Specificity Have Driven Evolutionary Trajectories of Lineages of Panzootic H5N1 Influenza
Preprint: Quantifying H5N1 Outbreak Potential and Control Effectiveness in High-Risk Agricultural Populations
PNAS: Three things we can do now to reduce the risk of avian influenza spillovers
Frontiers: HPAI: Pandemic Preparedness for a Scenario of High Lethality with No Vaccines
Today South Korea's Ministry of Environment issued the following statement on new steps (effective starting tomorrow, Sept 4th), to be taken to increase the safety of personnel dealing directly with avian influenza, and to ensure a more coordinated and efficient quarantine response.
Some of the key points mentioned:
Enhanced Protection for Personnel
- Mandatory seasonal flu vaccination for field responders.
- Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) (gloves, masks, etc.).
- 10-day health monitoring following culling or handling potentially infected birds, with immediate reporting if symptoms develop.
New Reporting & Response requirements
- Streamlined reporting of wild bird disease events to local governments and the National Institute of Wildlife Disease Management.
- Centralized precision testing at the National Wildlife Disease Control and Prevention Agency for efficiency and expertise.
Stricter Crisis ManagementThe full (translated) news release follows. I'll have a brief postscript after the break.
- Even in the caution stage, serious measures can be applied if HPAI is detected.
- Local governments to set up warning signs, disinfection stations, and barriers in outbreak areas.
- Regional environmental offices to inspect and oversee quarantine compliance.
Strengthening the safety of field response personnel for avian influenza in wild birds
Registrant name Hwang Ui-jeong
Department name Natural Ecology Policy Division
contact044-201-7491
Registration date 2025-09-03
▷ Revised Standard Action Guidelines for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds for the 2025-2026 Winter Season
▷ Safe and effective quarantine response by supplementing human infection prevention guidelines for field response personnel.
The Ministry of Environment (Minister Kim Sung-hwan) announced that it will revise the 'Wild Bird Avian Influenza Standard Operating Procedure (AI SOP)' to enable safer and more effective responses in the field when avian influenza (AI) occurs in wild birds and distribute it to local governments and other relevant organizations starting September 4.
This revision focuses on infection prevention for field response personnel and efficient response at quarantine sites, given the potential for avian influenza in wild birds to develop into a zoonotic disease. Recent overseas cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza infecting mammals and humans, and the discovery of avian influenza virus in wild mammals in Korea in March of this year (2025), have led to improvements to existing systemic deficiencies.
First, these revised guidelines supplement the human infection prevention guidelines that must be followed by avian influenza response personnel, including field investigators and migratory bird surveyors.
Field response personnel for avian influenza should be vaccinated against seasonal influenza and wear personal protective equipment, including gloves and masks. Those involved in culling should monitor their health for at least 10 days. If clinical symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, or conjunctival congestion appear, they should avoid external contact and report the situation to the health authorities.
Additionally, the reporting and response system for wild bird diseases has been reorganized. Procedures have been improved to ensure that any carcasses or suspected cases of avian influenza are immediately reported to the local government and the National Institute of Wildlife Disease Management for prompt quarantine measures.
At the same time, precision testing for avian influenza was centralized at the National Wildlife Disease Control and Prevention Agency to increase testing efficiency and expertise.
In addition, measures for each institution were clarified so that even in the crisis stage (caution), if highly pathogenic avian influenza occurs, it can be managed in a manner similar to the serious stage.
Local governments have implemented quarantine measures such as installing warning signs, barriers, and disinfection platforms around outbreak areas, and regional environmental offices have established a systematic management foundation by inspecting the quarantine management status of local governments.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment has established a legal framework for limited rescue of suspected avian influenza cases at wildlife rescue centers equipped with or receiving support for isolation and containment facilities, such as negative pressure cages*, to prevent the spread of disease.
Previously, rescues were prohibited within a 500-meter radius of a highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak, but this revision allows for more flexible and safer rescue activities. The Ministry of Environment plans to conduct a pilot project using negative pressure cages at the South Chungcheong Wildlife Rescue Center this month and, based on the results, consider expanding the use of negative pressure cages.(Continue . . . )* A facility that forms negative pressure inside the cage (with built-in fumigation and disinfection function) to prevent the leakage of air and viruses to the outside, and to isolate and treat suspected infected individuals from general individuals.In addition, quarantine compliance management will be strengthened in conjunction with the revised "Act on the Management of Zoos and Aquariums" and the licensing system for breeding and exhibition facilities. For public facilities like Seoul Grand Park, the regional environmental office will be responsible for inspecting the implementation of the "Avian Influenza Quarantine Management Plan," while for private facilities, local governments will be responsible for inspecting the implementation of the plan. This will enhance the effectiveness of the system.
Kim Tae-oh, Director of the Ministry of Environment’s Nature Conservation Bureau, said, “This revision will enable field response personnel to avian influenza to respond systematically and safely,” and added, “Starting with the coming winter season, we will reflect this revision to strengthen quarantine measures and closely cooperate with related organizations such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency to effectively block and respond to the occurrence and spread of avian influenza, including through rapid information sharing.”
While we've seen similar recommendations from the USDA and the CDC - which are primarily advisory agencies - meaning that many of their guidelines are non-binding (see MMWR: PPE Use by Dairy Farm workers Exposed to Cows Infected with HPAI A(H5N1) Viruses — Colorado, 2024)..
While South Korea isn't alone in addressing the threat (see Taiwan APHIA Launches "Strengthening Autumn and Winter Avian Influenza Prevention Measures"), the reality is, most of the world continues to watch, wait, and hope.
The $64 question this fall - as it has been for several years - is in what form will HPAI H5 return (see H5Nx: Reassort & Repeat). While an attenuation of the avian flu threat is always possible, in recent years the trajectory has been towards greater diversity, and increased zoonotic risks.
And it is not as if HPAI H5 is the only pandemic threat out there. It has plenty of company, and the only thing we can be sure of is that another pandemic is inevitable.
The only thing we can really control is whether we'll be prepared for it when it comes.
