Over the past month, the number of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks in Australian poultry flocks has risen to three. Also officially recording further cases have been two states in India, as well as South Korea and Japan.
An outbreak of HPAI has been confirmed at a third poultry farm in the state of Victoria, reports Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC. Birds at the table egg farm operated by Farm Pride Foods in Lethbridge have tested positive for the H7N3 serotype of the HPAI virus.
This is the same virus that was linked to an earlier outbreak at a layer farm in Meredith. This started in mid-May, and resulted in the deaths of 3,000 of the 413,000 hens at the affected premises in Meredith, also in the state of Victoria, according to the official notification to World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). This was the first detection of the H7N3 in Victoria, and the source of infection was unknown.
The two farms are around 10 minutes’ drive apart, reports ABC.
Latest outbreak in Lethbridge is in a flock of around 80,000 free-range birds, which represents around 8% of Farm Pride Foods’ total hen flock. A further 40,000 birds managed by the company in the Lethbridge area are currently being tested for HPAI.
The same company was hit by two HPAI outbreaks in 2020.
Last month, Australian authorities confirmed the first ever detection of the H7N9 HPAI virus serotype in the country.
Testing positive for this variant was a flock of around 160,000 hens at commercial farm in Terang, also in the state of Victoria. This virus appears to genetically related to the strain detected recently in Australia’s wild birds, according to the WOAH notification.
Further HPAI outbreaks among Asian poultry flocks
To WOAH, India’s veterinary authority has retrospectively reported six outbreaks of HPAI caused by the H5N1 virus variant in the southern state of Kerala. Affecting a total of almost 78,000 poultry, the outbreaks were in flocks described as “backyards” within around a 10-km radius during the month of April.
In early April, an outbreak linked to the same virus variant was confirmed at a farm with around 2,300 poultry in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
Following a two-month hiatus, the H5N1 HPAI virus was detected in a South Korean poultry flock. Affected were around 22,000 birds at a farm in the southern province of South Gyeongsang, according to the notification to WOAH.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s total farms hit by H5N1 HPAI since November of 2023 has risen to 39.
Based on WOAH reports, the latest outbreaks started in the period March 22 to April 12. These affected six farms and one slaughterhouse — a total of more than 130,000 poultry including native chickens, laying hens, and meat chickens.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
