Over the past few days, three European countries have raised the alert level for HPAI.
From October 16, the risk level has been raised to “moderate” across mainland France. According to the agriculture ministry, the change is justified by the evolution of cases in both wild birds and poultry.
The French authorities identify migratory wildlife as the most likely vector for the introduction of the virus onto poultry farms. So far this fall/autumn, five HPAI outbreaks in the nation’s poultry have been confirmed (as of October 17), with the most recent cases identified just two days previously.
Reassessment of the situation in France followed less than a week after the avian flu risk level for poultry, captive birds, and wild waterfowl was raise in Germany.
The national veterinary reference laboratory, Friedrich-Loeffler Institute, explains that the change was driven by the approaching autumn. At this time, potentially infected migratory birds arrive in the country, and the cooler temperatures tend to favor the survival of HPAI viruses.
HPAI cases in wild birds have been gradually spreading out across the United Kingdom (U.K.) in recent weeks.
Furthermore, Eurasian migratory birds — particularly waterfowl — continue to arrive in Great Britain after passing through areas where HPAI cases have been reported, reports the government’s agriculture department, Defra.
The government agency now assesses the incursion risk of HPAI viruses of the H5 family into wild birds as moderate, meaning that is it likely to occur regularly in the coming months. Incursion into poultry ranges from very low (for poultry farms with stringent biosecurity) to low (for premises with suboptimal hygiene).
New farm outbreaks in 7 European states
Over the past three weeks, the country registering the most outbreaks of HPAI on poultry farms has been Hungary.
The nation’s animal health agency has officially logged 10 outbreaks with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). Cases have been detected — mainly in commercial duck flocks of unspecified size — in five different counties. These are located in the south and southeast of the country, with recent cases also in a central county.
Italy’s first HPAI cases of the season in poultry was confirmed on October 1, according to the nation’s reference lab for avian influenza, IZSVe.
As of October 14, presence of the H5N1 HPAI virus had been detected at seven poultry farms in three regions (Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, and Lombardy). Six outbreaks affected meat turkeys, and one was in laying hens.
In Poland, three outbreaks linked to the same virus variant have been confirmed by the chief veterinary office since the start of this month (as of October 16). These have affected a total of almost 161,000 commercial ducks (breeding and meat birds) in Lower Silesia in the southwest of the country.
First HPAI outbreak of the season in France already occurred in early August, and two more were confirmed later in that month.
Since then, two further farms have been affected. Based on WOAH notifications, these comprised flocks of 29,500 and 6,600 poultry in the same department in the most northwestern region of Brittany.
These bring the total outbreaks since the start of the HPAI “season” in France to five.
Meanwhile, the second phase of the national HPAI vaccination campaign for commercial ducks — largely funded by the state — is scheduled to resume this month.
At the end of September, first HPAI cases of the autumn in Bulgarian poultry were recorded by the food safety agency.
Directly impacted was a mixed flock of almost 11,000 birds including pheasants, partridges, and American turkeys in the central region of Plovdiv. Earlier this week, the source reported a second outbreak. Affected were around 700 poultry at a research and educational institute in the city of Plovdiv.
In recent weeks, the veterinary authorities of Austria and Germany have each notified WOAH about one HPAI outbreak in their respective commercial poultry flocks involving the H5N1 virus serotype.
The German outbreak was in the eastern state of Saxony. It affected a small flock of ducks and geese during the last week of September.
Meanwhile, Austria’s first cases since February of this year involved around 120 poultry at a farm in the state of Upper Austria in the north of the country.
3 countries report cases in captive birds
Since the end of September, the national veterinary authority of Moldova has registered a total of 27 HPAI outbreaks in captive birds to WOAH (as of October 16). Presence of the H5N1 virus variant has been confirmed.
Affected have been birds described as belonging to “village” flocks, including a number of captive wild geese as well as “non-poultry birds” of unspecified type. Outbreaks appear to have occurred in two clusters — 23 in the west of the country, and the other four together in the north.
The “captive bird” category also covers backyard poultry and zoos.
In mid-September, the French authorities confirmed to WOAH that birds from a backyard flock of 47 poultry had tested positive for the H5N1 virus. The outbreak was in the northern region of Hauts-de-France.
Earlier this month, one bird out of a group of 11 pelicans was infected with the same virus variant at a zoo in the northwest German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, according to a WOAH notification.
Wild bird cases widely reported across Europe
For the first time since the summer, wild birds have tested positive for the H5N1 HPAI virus serotype in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Slovakia, and the German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia, according to official WOAH reports.
The H5N5 virus variant has been detected — also for the first time this autumn — in these populations in the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, and Lower Saxony in Germany.
In Norway, a wild bird found dead has tested positive for HPAI, but the virus type could not be identified.
Several countries have registered with WOAH further wild bird cases. Hungary, Poland, Spain and three German states have reported additional cases involving the H5N1 virus. More than 50 wild birds in Great Britain have tested positive for the H5N5 virus variant, according to WOAH reports submitted over the past three weeks.
EFSA: Human infection risk remains low
The risk of infection with currently circulating avian influenza A(H5) viruses of clade 2.3.4.4b in Europe remains low for the general population, according to the latest risk assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
For those occupationally or otherwise exposed to infected animals or contaminated environments, the agency has not changed its assessment of the infection risk at low-moderate.
Covering the period June 21 to September 20, EFSA reports that 19 human cases with influenza virus of avian origin were reported globally. None of these occurred in Europe.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation in poultry, and on disease developments in the U.S. dairy sector.
