2025-2026: HPAI's Biggest Surge in Wild Birds to Date (Europe)
#19,346
As the above EDC/EFSA chart illustrates, after a couple of lackluster years (2023-2025) avian flu returned to Europe with a vengeance last year. We saw similar upticks in places like South Korea, and North America, but reporting from large swaths of the world - particularly in Asia and Africa - is often lacking (see FAO graphic below).
Every 3 months the ECDC/EFSA publishes a highly detailed avian influenza surveillance report, and while they tend to be EU centric, in its 67 pages you'll find ample coverage of outbreaks and infections from around the world on a wide variety of avian subtypes.
While today's report covers the slowest part (June-August) of the year, these highly detailed quarterly reports make excellent reference material, and are well worth perusing.
This edition does contain one milestone, however; the long-dreaded arrival of HPAI to Australia/New Zealand, which was first reported in June. I've posted the Abstract, and a few excerpts below.
I'll have a brief postscript after the break.
AbstractBetween 5 June and 28 August 2026, 110 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus detections were reported in domestic (7) and wild (103) birds in 12 countries in Europe.The number of detections remained at a seasonal low throughout the summer, continuing the decline observed since spring. In contrast to previous years, fewer colony-breeding seabirds were affected, and the geographical range of detections was more limited. Further sporadic detections of HPAI A(H5) virus were reported in wild terrestrial carnivores and pinnipeds.
Outside Europe, the epidemic continued in the Americas, where also the HPAI A(H7N3) subtype was detected in Mexico. Following its first introduction to mainland Australia, HPAI A(H5N1) virus spread within local wild bird populations and spilled over to terrestrial carnivores and marine mammals. In the US, the number of dairy cattle farms reportedly affected by HPAI A(H5N1) increased, while detections in captive American minks were reported for the first time.
Between 5 June and 31 August 2026, 15 cases of avian influenza virus infection were publicly reported in humans (no fatal cases) in three countries and territories: Bangladesh (one A(H5N1) case), Cambodia (one A(H5N1) case) and China (13 A(H9N2) cases). All human cases reported exposure to poultry or a poultry environment prior to detection or onset of illness. Human infections with avian influenza viruses remain rare and no sustained human-to-human transmission has been documented.
The risk posed by avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b viruses currently circulating in Europe remains low for the general public in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) and low-to-moderate for those occupationally or otherwise exposed to infected animals or contaminated environments.
©2026 European Food Safety Authority, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control,European Union Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza. EFSA Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH on behalf of European Food Safety Authority
(Continued . . . )
As the chart at the top of this blog indicates, each avian flu season (which runs Oct 1st -Sept 30th) is different, sometimes punctuated by the arrival of new subtypes or genotypes, and often varying in intensity.
As we go into a new fall season, migratory birds in the Northern Hemisphere are expected to bring with them a new wave of HPAI from their high-latitude breeding grounds (see H5Nx: Reassort & Repeat).
While we can't know what kind of avian flu season lies ahead, now would be a good time to review the things you can do to lower your (currently, low) risk of exposure.
WHO Interim Guidance to Reduce the Risk of Infection in People Exposed to Avian Influenza Viruses
Backyard Flock Owners: Protect Yourself from Bird Flu (CDC Guidance)
UF/IFAS Extension: What Backyard Flock Owners Need to Know about Bird Flu (Influenza H5N1)
