H5N1

8 dead skunks found in Vancouver and Richmond test positive for H5N1 avian flu

Via CBC News, a story that's getting close to home: 8 dead skunks found in Vancouver and Richmond test positive for avian flu. Excerpt:

Eight skunks found dead last month in Vancouver and nearby Richmond, B.C., have tested positive for avian flu. 

The B.C. government says it is the same strain of avian influenza associated with the outbreak that began in April 2022.  

The skunks were found in residential areas in both cities and were taken to B.C.'s Animal Health Centre over concerns they may have been deliberately poisoned.  

British Columbia's Ministry of Agriculture says the skunks were infected with the same H5N1 strain that has caused the deaths of millions of domestic poultry since the outbreak began in April last year.  

The ministry says in a statement the skunks may have contracted H5N1 by scavenging on infected wild birds.  

The statement says while avian flu in skunks is considered to be a low risk to human health, there are always risks when people or pets come into contact with sick or dead wild animals.

Avian influenza overview December 2022 – March 2023

ECDC has published Avian influenza overview December 2022 – March 2023. The abstract:

Between 3 December 2022 and 1 March 2023 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus, clade 2.3.4.4b, was reported in Europe in domestic (522) and wild (1,138) birds over 24 countries. An unexpected number of HPAI virus detections in sea birds were observed, mainly in gull species and particularly in black-headed gulls (large mortality events were observed in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy). The close genetic relationship among viruses collected from black-headed gulls suggests a southward spread of the virus. Moreover, the genetic analyses indicate that the virus persisted in Europe in residential wild birds during and after the summer months. 

Although the virus retained a preferential binding for avian-like receptors, several mutations associated to increased zoonotic potential were detected. The risk of HPAI virus infection for poultry due to the virus circulating in black-headed gulls and other gull species might increase during the coming months, as breeding bird colonies move inland with possible overlap with poultry production areas. 

Worldwide, HPAI A(H5N1) virus continued to spread southward in the Americas, from Mexico to southern Chile. The Peruvian pelican was the most frequently reported infected species with thousands of deaths being reported. The reporting of HPAI A(H5N1) in mammals also continued probably linked to feeding on infected wild birds. 

In Peru, a mass mortality event of sea lions was observed in January and February 2023. Since October 2022, six A(H5N1) detections in humans were reported from Cambodia (a family cluster with 2 people, clade 2.3.2.1c), China (2, clade 2.3.4.4b), Ecuador (1, clade 2.3.4.4b), and Vietnam (1, clade 2.3.4.4b), as well as two A(H5N6) human infections from China. 

The risk of infection with currently circulating avian H5 influenza viruses of clade 2.3.4.4b in Europe is assessed as low for the general population in the EU/EEA, and low to moderate for occupationally or otherwise exposed people.

China reports new H5N1 avian flu case

Thanks to FluTrackers for alerting me to this CIDRAP report by Lisa Schnirring: China reports new H5N1 avian flu case. Excerpt:

China has reported a new human H5N1 avian flu case, marking the second case in recent months, an official with the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed today.  

Daniel Epstein, with the WHO's news media team, said China informed the WHO about the case on Feb 24. The patient is a 53-year-old woman from Jiangsu province who has a history of contact with poultry. The woman's symptoms began on Jan 31, and she was hospitalized on Feb 4.       

Genetic sequencing suggests that she was infected with the 2.3.4.4b H5N1 clade, which is currently circulating widely in birds, Epstein said. "Since 2020, an increased number of avian influenza outbreaks have been reported in wild birds and poultry globally, and we can expect additional sporadic human cases."  

The new case from China was first reported yesterday by BNO News.  

China's last H5N1 case involved a woman from Guangxi province who was sick in November and died from her infection. In a late December risk assessment, the WHO said the virus from that Chinese patient, as well as a recent case in Vietnam, also involved the 2.3.4.4b H5N1 clade.  

CDC weighs in on Cambodian H5N1 clade  

In related news, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday detailed its genetic analysis of the full H5N1 avian flu virus sequence, shared by Cambodia's health ministry, from a girl who recently died from her infection.  

The CDC said that the virus belongs to the 2.3.2.1c clade and is different from the 2.3.4.4b clade that is currently circulating in US wild birds and poultry and in domestic and wild birds across the globe. It added that the clade found in the Cambodian patient is similar to 2.3.2.1c clade H5N1 viruses that have been circulating in Southeast Asia in recent years.  

Sequencing by the CDC also suggests that an existing clade 2.3.2.1c candidate vaccine virus would offer protection against the virus. Also, the CDC found no genetic changes known to be linked to enhanced ability to spread to people or reduced susceptibility to antiviral medications.

Second case of H5N1 bird flu in Cambodia confirmed

Via the Khmer Times: 2nd case of H5N1 bird flu in Cambodia confirmed. Excerpt:

The Ministry of Health has just issued a statement confirming the discovery of a second case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) in Prey Veng province – the father of an 11 year old girl who died from the virus on Wednesday  

The outbreak is centred around Roleang village, Romlech commune, Sithor Kandal district, Prey Veng province.  

The Ministry says that after the girl’s death, the emergency research work team of the Ministry of Health in collaboration with local authorities and Prey Veng Provincial Health Department, together with health partners, arrived at the village immediately on February 23, 2023.  

The emergency response team collected samples from 12 people.  One of the 12 samples – taken from a 49-year-old man living in Roleang village – has been confirmed as positive.   

The Ministry of Health states that the virus was not previously found in humans for the past 9 years in the Kingdom of Cambodia.   

The emergency response team has been investigating the outbreak of the H5N1 virus and is responding to national procedures, and has been working with the emergency response team, human and veterinary vets, to find the source of the infection.  

Animals and humans will continue to be tested for suspected cases to prevent transmission to others in the community in the village where the incident occurred.  

Public health expert Dr Quach Mengly said the disease has symptoms similar to a cold, cough, and fever and is highly life-threatening without treatment.  

“To prevent the infection, please avoid touching and eating sick and dead animals,” he said. “Bury the dead animals properly, and wash your hands properly after that.”

Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop "war" on poultry

Via Reuters: Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop "war" on poultry. Excerpt:

CHICAGO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Avian flu has reached new corners of the globe and become endemic for the first time in some wild birds that transmit the virus to poultry, according to veterinarians and disease experts, who warn it is now a year-round problem.  

Reuters spoke to more than 20 experts and farmers on four continents who said the prevalence of the virus in the wild signals that record outbreaks will not abate soon on poultry farms, ramping up threats to the world's food supply. They warned that farmers must view the disease as a serious risk all year, instead of focusing prevention efforts during spring migration seasons for wild birds.

Outbreaks of the virus have continued in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, undefeated by summer heat or winter cold snaps, since a strain arrived in the United States in early 2022 that was genetically similar to cases in Europe and Asia.

Egg prices set records after the disease wiped out tens of millions of hens last year, putting a staple source of cheap protein out of reach to some of the world's poorest at a time the global economy is reeling from high inflation.   

Wild birds are primarily responsible for spreading the virus, according to experts. Waterfowl like ducks can carry the disease without dying and introduce it to poultry through contaminated feces, saliva and other means.  

Farmers' best efforts to protect flocks are falling short.  

In the United States, Rose Acre Farms, the country's second-largest egg producer, lost about 1.5 million hens at a Guthrie County, Iowa, production site last year, even though anyone who entered barns was required to shower first to remove any trace of the virus, Chief Executive Marcus Rust said.

A company farm in Weld County, Colorado, was infected twice within about six months, killing more than 3 million chickens, Rust said. He thinks wind blew the virus in from nearby fields where geese defecated.  

"We got nailed," Rust said. "You just pull your hair out."  

The United States, Britain, France and Japan are among countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless.  

"Avian flu is occurring even in a new poultry farm with modern equipment and no windows, so all we could do now is ask God to avoid an outbreak," said Shigeo Inaba, who raises chickens for meat in Ibaraki prefecture near Tokyo.

Deaths of thousands of wild birds from H5N1 avian flu is ‘new Silent Spring’

Via The Guardian: Deaths of thousands of wild birds from avian flu is ‘new Silent Spring’. Excerpt:

The planet is experiencing a new “Silent Spring” of wildlife destruction because so many wild birds have died from avian flu, according to a leading scientist, who said the past year has seen the most significant and sudden loss of birds in decades.  

James Pearce-Higgins, director of science at the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “The last time we experienced such large-scale and rapid losses of wild birds in the UK would be the impacts of DDT on birds of prey in the 1950s and 1960s associated with the Silent Spring narrative, or the widespread declines of farmland birds during the 1970s and 80s as a result of agricultural intensification.”  

The Silent Spring narrative refers to the seminal 1962 book by Rachel Carson about how pesticides, particularly DDT, were killing birds. DDT caused egg shells to become so thin that adults crushed them during incubation, leading to nest failure and the deaths of thousands of birds.  

The World Organisation for Animal Health estimates that more than 50,000 wild birds have died of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 since October 2021, mainly in Europe and America. But experts say this is likely to be a huge underestimate. In the UK alone, numbers could be in the hundreds of thousands, although conservationists say the true impact is still unknown, and most are unwilling to speculate.  

In the UK, the effects of avian flu started in the northernmost islands of Scotland in spring, spreading south down the east coast of England reaching as far south as Sussex, with colonies of nesting seabirds the worst hit. 

Already there are more than a dozen outbreaks dotted across the country among wintering waterbirds. This suggests it is already widespread and will be found in breeding seabird colonies again next year, said Pearce-Higgins.  

There were more than 3,500 virus detections in wild birds across Europe in the 2021-2022 season, with reports from 37 countries that it was being seen in 63 wild bird species, according to an avian influenza overview published by the European Food Safety Authority. For wild birds, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK had the most reported cases, with most coming from coastal areas because seabirds were the worst affected.  

The first US case in this current outbreak was in an American wigeon duck in South Carolina on 14 January 2022. Since then, there have been 3,700 positive tests in 47 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

Yet testing should not be taken as an indicator of impact, because only a fraction of birds that die will be collected and sent for laboratory testing, researchers say. “Reported numbers are likely a vast underestimate,” said Michelle Wille from the University of Sydney.

BC wildlife rescue centres say they're overrun with calls for birds sick with suspected avian flu

Via CBC News: B.C. wildlife rescue centres say they're overrun with calls for birds sick with suspected avian flu. Excerpt:

The provincial and federal governments advise people not to handle sick birds, as wildlife rehabilitation centres say they are seeing increased calls from the public who want to try and help the animals suspected of having avian influenza.  

"It's been exceptional in my almost 37 years of doing this," said Elizabeth Melnick, who for decades has worked to rehabilitate injured or orphaned animals at her centre in Abbotsford.  

She said her centre, which runs on donations, is unable to keep up with calls, and even people bringing her sick birds such as wild geese and crows they've observed in distress, mostly in the Fraser Valley where avian flu has been detected.  

"It's really taken a toll," she said. "It's not a good situation at all."  

Seven commercial poultry farms have been quarantined with avian flu since Nov. 16 in Abbotsford and Chilliwack, the same area where 17 million birds were culled in 2004 to prevent the flu's spread. 

Officials in the industry say, so far, there has not been farm-to-farm transmission, but wild birds are spreading the disease as they can easily access poultry farms in the Fraser Valley, which are close together.  

The first poultry infection in B.C. this year was confirmed in mid-April. There have now been 57 confirmed cases, with the majority discovered this fall as wild birds migrate.

Iceland as stepping stone for spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus between Europe and North America

Via Emerging Infectious Diseases: Iceland as Stepping Stone for Spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus between Europe and North America. The abstract:

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of hemagglutinin type H5 and clade 2.3.4.4b have widely spread within the northern hemisphere since 2020 and threaten wild bird populations, as well as poultry production. 

We present phylogeographic evidence that Iceland has been used as a stepping stone for HPAIV translocation from northern Europe to North America by infected but mobile wild birds. At least 2 independent incursions of HPAIV H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b assigned to 2 hemagglutinin clusters, B1 and B2, are documented for summer‒autumn 2021 and spring 2022. Spread of HPAIV H5N1 to and among colony-breeding pelagic avian species in Iceland is ongoing. 

Potentially devastating effects (i.e., local losses >25%) on these species caused by extended HPAIV circulation in space and time are being observed at several affected breeding sites throughout the North Atlantic.

H5N1 bird flu leads to BC turkey shortage

Via the North Shore News: Bird flu leads to B.C. turkey shortage. Excerpt:

Christmas dinner in British Columbia could look a little different this year as nearly two dozen farms across the province slaughter hundreds of thousands of birds in an attempt to contain the avian influenza virus.   

From the Interior, to the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has identified high-pathogenic strains (HPAI) of H5N1 — the most deadly variety of avian influenza or “bird flu”— in 42 B.C. flocks. As of Wednesday afternoon, 23 outbreaks were ongoing and 275,800 birds had been slaughtered in an effort to contain the pathogen.   

The culled birds include broiler chickens, ducks and laying hens, among other specialty birds. But the most heavily affected poultry has been turkey, says Amanda Brittain, chief information officer for the BC Poultry Association, the group that helps coordinate the province’s four poultry and egg marketing boards during emergencies. 

“The BC Turkey Marketing Board tells me that they’re looking to be 20 per cent short of how much they grow,” said Brittain. “Turkeys grow for 13 to 15 weeks, so there is no time to grow more before Christmas.”   

H5N1 has been identified at over 220 locations across Canada and led to the culling of 3.7 million birds since the start of the latest epidemic.   

The seven commercial Fraser Valley poultry farms hit with the virus since Nov. 16 have come under “intense disease pressure,” said B.C. Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham.  

From the wild to the farm  

The outbreaks in Chilliwack and Abbotsford come out of step with the seasonal migration of wild birds, which have been found to carry and pass on the virus to domestic flocks.   

"The virus this year is different than we've ever seen in the past and it is behaving differently in both wild birds and domestic birds," said Brittain.   

Scientists have isolated variants of the influenza virus in more than 100 wild bird species worldwide, from waterfowl like geese, swans, ducks and gulls to shoreline species like sandpipers, plovers and storks. Not all strains are deadly. In the same way that many humans pull through an annual bout of the flu, many strains of the avian varieties rarely cause more than the sniffles, lethargy or fever in birds.  

High-pathogenic strains are different. When HPAIs enter a poultry farm, they often find the epidemiological equivalent of a refugee camp for birds, says Ronald Ydenberg, a professor of behavioural ecology and director of Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Wildlife Ecology.   

“There are thousands of birds there. They're all immunologically naive. They haven't had time to evolve any resistance. And there's a fresh batch every six weeks,” he told Glacier Media last spring. 

Vietnam: MoH proposes to strengthen the prevention and control of avian influenza in Phu Tho province

Via the Ministry of Health: The Ministry of Health proposes to strengthen the prevention and control of avian influenza in Phu Tho province - Information on management direction. The Google translation:

Through the infectious disease surveillance system, on October 17, 2022, the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology - Ministry of Health recorded 1 patient who tested positive for influenza A(H5), currently living. in Thanh Ba district, Phu Tho province. This is the latest human case of influenza A(H5) in Vietnam since February 2014.  

According to information from the Department of Animal Health - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, avian influenza is still recorded in poultry flocks in many localities across the country. Next time is the Lunar New Year and festival season, so the total poultry flock and poultry transport and trade may increase. Besides, the weather is currently in the period of changing seasons and abnormal changes favorable for avian influenza virus to develop. Therefore, there is always a potential risk of transmission of avian influenza to humans.  

In order to proactively prevent avian influenza from infecting humans, on October 20, 2022, the Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health sent Official Letter 1164/DP-DT requesting Comrade Director of Phu Tho Department of Health to only Directing to strengthen the prevention and control of avian influenza in the province with a number of key contents as follows:  

1. Organize the investigation and thoroughly handle the outbreak; strengthen surveillance to detect new outbreaks in humans; hospitals are ready to collect, isolate and treat according to regulations of the Ministry of Health and promptly notify the provincial Center for Disease Control for timely epidemic prevention and control measures.  

2. Work closely with veterinary authorities and local authorities in monitoring and detecting influenza outbreaks in poultry, promptly sharing information and thoroughly handling outbreaks.  

3. Strengthen communication of measures to prevent avian influenza from spreading to humans in areas with sick and dead poultry and high-risk areas.  

4. Prepare drugs, supplies, chemicals and means of timely support for the locality to implement measures to handle the outbreak.  

5. To coordinate in the prevention and control of diseases transmitted from animals to humans in accordance with the provisions of the Joint Circular No. 16/2013/TTLT-BYT-BNN&PTNT dated May 27, 2013 of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Report on infectious diseases according to the Circular No. 54/2015/TT-BYT dated December 28, 2015 of the Minister of Health on the Department of Preventive Medicine.