The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) on July 22 posted its last official report regarding the presence of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Mexico, stating that the situation has been resolved.
“From October 2023 to April 2024, outbreaks of HPAI subtype H5N1 were detected in the states of Sonora, Jalisco and Oaxaca. The last outbreak closure was on May 13, 2024, which means that more than 28 days have elapsed without detecting outbreaks in wildlife and this animal health event is considered closed,” the WOAH report read.
The last farm to have been affected, according to WOAH, was not a commercial poultry operation, but rather a farm where fighting chickens were raised. In that case, 363 chickens on a farm in Oaxaca had died and tested positive for HPAI. The other 37 birds on the premises were euthanized and all necessary control measures were completed.
According to WOAH, local poultry farmers have been urged by the National Service of Health, Safety and Food Quality (SENASICA) to reinforce the biosecurity measures on their farms and to immediately notify of any anomaly observed in their animals in order to protect the national poultry production.
As part of the follow-up, SENASICA conducts challenge tests on the isolate in previously vaccinated birds to evaluate whether the available vaccine confers protection against the pathogen. The active epidemiological surveillance program is being maintained in technified production units, backyards and slaughterhouses, as well as the monitoring of wild birds at national level.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
