H5N1

Chinese woman dies from H5N6 strain of bird flu

Via Reuters: Chinese woman dies from H5N6 strain of bird flu.

BEIJING, Dec 9 (Reuters) - A woman in China's Sichuan province died from the H5N6 strain of avian influenza last month, a regional health bureau said this week, in the latest human fatality from the lethal disease.  

The 54-year-old woman from Zigong city developed symptoms on Nov. 17 and was admitted to hospital on Nov. 21. She died on Nov. 23, according to a Wednesday statement on the website of the health bureau of semi-autonomous region Macau.

She had been exposed to dead poultry before the onset of illness, it added.  

The number of people in China infected with H5N6 bird flu this year has jumped, raising concern among experts, who say a previously circulating strain appears to have changed and may be more infectious to people.

Avian influenza A viruses among occupationally exposed populations, China, 2014–2016

Via Emerging Infectious Diseases: Avian Influenza A Viruses among Occupationally Exposed Populations, China, 2014–2016. The abstract:

To determine the seroprevalence and seroconversion of avian influenza virus (AIV) antibodies in poultry workers, we conducted a seroepidemiologic study in 7 areas of China during December 2014–April 2016. We used viral isolation and reverse transcription PCR to detect AIVs in specimens from live poultry markets. 

We analyzed 2,124 serum samples obtained from 1,407 poultry workers by using hemagglutination inhibition and microneutralization assays. We noted seroprevalence of AIV antibodies for subtypes H9N2, H7N9, H6N1, H5N1-SC29, H5N6, H5N1-SH199, and H6N6. In serum from participants with longitudinal samples, we noted seroconversion, with >4-fold rise in titers, for H9N2, H7N9, H6N1, H5N1-SC29, H6N6, H5N6, and H5N1-SH199 subtypes. We found no evidence of H10N8 subtype. 

The distribution of AIV antibodies provided evidence of asymptomatic infection. We found that AIV antibody prevalence in live poultry markets correlated with increased risk for H7N9 and H9N2 infection among poultry workers.

H5N1, H5N6 bird flu hits Vietnamese province

Via English.news.cn, a Xinhua report: Bird flu hits Vietnamese province.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's southern Ben Tre province has seen the first outbreak of A/H5N6 bird flu which has led to the culling of 1,000 chickens. 

The outbreak was spotted in Mo Cay Nam district, and then tests confirmed that the flock of fowls raised by a household were infected with the bird flu virus, Vietnam News Agency on Sunday quoted the provincial Department of Livestock and Animal Health as saying. 

Relevant local agencies have culled the chickens, disinfected surrounding areas and intensified vaccination among fowls in the province. 

In late July, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that outbreaks of A/H5N6 and A/H5N1 bird flu had been reported in 13 communes of 11 localities from the start of 2019, leading to the culling of more than 23,000 poultry. 

The bird flu is forecast to widely spread in the remaining months of this year due to changing weather and surging poultry transportation ahead of the lunar new year holiday. 

Vietnam first detected bird flu virus strain of A/H5N1 in December 2003 on both humans and fowls. More than 45 million poultry in Vietnam were culled between 2003 and 2006. Since then, hundreds of thousands of fowls have been killed each year.  

In the 2004-2014 period, 127 people in Vietnam were infected with H5N1, including 64 fatalities, according to the ministry. The country has detected no new human cases of H5N1 infection since 2014.

Hong Kong: CHP notified of human case of avian influenza A(H5N6) in Beijing

Via the Centre for Health Protection: CHP notified of human case of avian influenza A(H5N6) in Beijing. Excerpt:

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (August 19) received notification of an additional human case of avian influenza A(H5N6) in Beijing from the National Health Commission, and again urged the public to maintain strict personal, food and environmental hygiene both locally and during travel.        

The case involved a 59-year-old female from Beijing. She was hospitalised on August 11. She is now in a critical condition.        

From 2014 to date, 24 human cases of avian influenza A(H5N6) have been reported by the Mainland health authorities.        

"All novel influenza A infections, including H5N6, are notifiable infectious diseases in Hong Kong," the spokesman said.        

Travellers to the Mainland or other affected areas must avoid visiting wet markets, live poultry markets or farms. They should be alert to the presence of backyard poultry when visiting relatives and friends. They should also avoid purchasing live or freshly slaughtered poultry, and avoid touching poultry/birds or their droppings. They should strictly observe personal and hand hygiene when visiting any place with live poultry.

H5N1 bird flu hits another Vietnamese locality

Via Xinhua: Bird flu hits another Vietnamese locality.

Vietnam's southern Can Tho city has seen the first outbreak of A/H5N1 bird flu which has led to the culling of 1,500 chickens, Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday.  

The outbreak was spotted in Binh Thuy district with 955 chickens raised by a household dying. Tests confirmed that the flock of fowls were infected with the bird flu virus, forcing relevant local agencies to cull another 545 chickens.  

Notably, the chickens were vaccinated against H5N1 in June, the agency quoted the municipal Department of Livestock and Animal Health as reporting.

In late July, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that outbreaks of A/H5N6 and A/H5N1 bird flu had been reported in 13 communes of 11 localities from the start of 2019, leading to the culling of more than 23,000 poultry. 

The bird flu is forecast to widely spread in the remaining months of this year due to changing weather and surging poultry transportation in time ahead of the lunar new year holiday. 

Vietnam first detected bird flu virus strain of A/H5N1 in December 2003 on both humans and fowls. More than 45 million poultry in Vietnam were culled between 2003 and 2006. Since then, hundreds of thousands of fowls have been killed each year.  

In the 2004-2014 period, 127 people in Vietnam were infected with H5N1, including 64 fatalities, according to the ministry. The country has detected no new human cases of H5N1 infection since 2014.

Vietnamese southern province hit by bird flu, over 10,000 chickens culled

Via Xinhua: Vietnamese southern province hit by bird flu, over 10,000 chickens culled. It's almost nostalgic to blog an item like this:

HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province has seen first outbreaks of A/H5N6 bird flu which have led to the culling of 10,500 chickens, local media reported on Tuesday.  

The outbreaks were spotted in two communes in Xuyen Moc district on July 31 and Aug. 1, and then tests confirmed that some chickens were infected with the bird flu virus, Vietnam News Agency quoted the provincial Department of Livestock and Animal Health as reporting.  

Relevant local agencies have culled 10,500 chickens raised by two households in the two communes, disinfected surrounding areas and intensified vaccination among fowls in the district.  

In late July, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the outbreaks of A/H5N6 and A/H5N1 bird flu had been reported in 13 communes of 11 localities from the start of 2019, leading to the culling of more than 23,000 poultry.  

The bird flu is forecast to widely spread in the remaining months of this year due to changing weather and surging poultry transportation in time ahead of the lunar new year holiday. 

Vietnam first detected bird flu virus strain of A/H5N1 in December 2003 on both humans and fowls. More than 45 million poultry in Vietnam were culled between 2003 and 2006. Since then, hundreds of thousands of fowls have been killed each year.  

In the 2004-2014 period, 127 people in Vietnam were infected with H5N1, including 64 fatalities, according to the ministry. The country has detected no new human cases of H5N1 infection since 2014.

Vietnam reports H5N1, H5N6 bird flu outbreaks in 11 localities

Via Xinhua: Vietnam reports bird flu outbreaks in 11 localities.

The outbreaks of A/H5N1 and A/H5N6 bird flu, which are transmittable to humans, have been reported in 13 communes of 11 Vietnamese localities from the start of 2019, Vietnam News Agency reported on Friday. 

More than 23,000 fowl have been culled so far this year, the agency reported quoting the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.  

The bird flu is forecast to widely spread in the remaining months of this year due to changing weather and surging poultry transportation in time ahead of the lunar new year holiday. 

Cities and provinces across Vietnam have been instructed to devise plans and mobilize forces to prevent the disease, spray chemicals in high-risk areas and keep a close watch on the growth of their poultry populations.  

Vietnam first detected bird flu virus strain of A/H5N1 in December 2003 in both humans and poultry. Several new strains of the virus, such as A/H7N9, A/H5N2 and A/H5N8, could enter the country through transportation, business and consumption of smuggled poultry products of unclear origins, the agency reported. 

More than 45 million poultry in Vietnam were culled between 2003 and 2006. Since then, hundreds of thousands of fowls have been killed each year.  

In the 2004-2014 period, 127 people in Vietnam were infected with H5N1, including 64 fatalities, according to the ministry. The country has detected no new human cases of H5N1 infection since 2014. 

Early this year, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc unveiled a national plan on bird flu prevention and control for the 2019-2025 period. The plan seeks to prevent and control bird flu outbreaks and help form disease-free poultry farming zones and chains.  

Authorized forces are requested to control outbreaks through early detection and a swift dealing with infected hotbeds to prevent them from spreading.  

The plan also tasks them with preventing new and dangerous flu strains from entering or spreading in Vietnam, while vaccinating at least 80 percent of poultry, the agency reported.

ECDC surveillance report: Avian influenza overview November 2018 - February 2019

ECDC has published Surveillance report: Avian influenza overview November 2018 - February 2019. The executive summary:

No human infections due to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N8) or A(H5N6) viruses - detected in wild birds and poultry outbreaks in Europe - have been reported so far and the risk of zoonotic transmission to the general public in Europe is considered very low. Between 16 November 2018 and 15 February 2019, two HPAI A(H5N8) outbreaks in poultry establishments in Bulgaria, two HPAI A(H5N6) outbreaks in wild birds in Denmark and one low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) A(H5N3) in captive birds in the Netherlands were reported in the European Union (EU). 

Genetic characterisation of the HPAI A(H5N6) viruses reveals that they cluster with the A(H5N6) viruses that have been circulating in Europe since December 2017. The wild bird species involved were birds of prey and were likely infected due to hunting or scavenging infected wild waterfowl. However, HPAI virus was not detected in other wild birds during this period. 

Outside the EU, two HPAI outbreaks were reported in poultry during the reporting period from western Russia. Sequence information on an HPAI A(H5N6) virus found in a common gull in western Russia in October 2018 suggests that the virus clusters within clade 2.3.4.4c and is closely related to viruses that transmitted zoonotically in China. An increasing number of outbreaks in poultry and wild birds in Asia, Africa and the Middle East was observed during the time period for this report. 

Currently there is no evidence of a new HPAI virus incursion from Asia into Europe. However, passive surveillance systems may not be sensitive enough if the prevalence or case fatality in wild birds is very low. Nevertheless, it is important to encourage and maintain a certain level of passive surveillance in Europe testing single sick or dead wild birds and birds of prey as they may be sensitive sentinel species for the presence of HPAI virus in the environment. 

A well-targeted active surveillance might complement passive surveillance to collect information on HPAI infectious status of apparently healthy wild bird populations. 

Branswell: What happened to bird flu?

Via STAT, Helen Branswell brings back memories: What happened to bird flu? How a threat to human health faded from view. Excerpt from a very good article:

Just over a dozen years ago, a bird flu virus known as H5N1 was charting a destructive course through Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East, ravaging poultry in apocryphal numbers and killing 6 in 10 humans known to have contracted it. 

The overall human death toll was low — in the hundreds — but scientists and government officials feared that the virus could ignite a human pandemic reminiscent of the catastrophic 1918 Spanish flu. Emergency plans were drafted, experimental H5N1 vaccines were created and tested, antiviral drugs were stockpiled. 

And then … nothing happened.

The virus continued to kill chickens and to occasionally infect and sometimes kill people. But as the years passed, the number of human H5N1 cases subsided. There has not been a single H5N1 human infection detected since February 2017.  

This is the good news. The bad news is that the situation could change in an instant. Related: How live animal markets create a perfect storm for bird flu 

“We don’t know how the story’s going to end,” warned Nancy Cox, who retired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in late 2014 after leading its influenza operations for more than two decades. 

It’s not just H5N1 that has dissipated. The virus’s nearly-as-scary cousin, H7N9, emerged in China in 2013 and sickened more than 1,500 people in China over five years, killing roughly 40 percent of them. 

But after an extraordinary surge of cases — 766 — in early 2017, there were a mere three infections recorded in 2018. So far in 2019 there have been none.  

Although there are ways to make sense of H7N9’s decline, no one knows precisely why H5N1 has faded from view.  

“There are things that occur with influenza that don’t quite add up completely,” Cox admitted.  

Scientists do know the H5N1 viruses have mutated in ways that may be important to their ability to interact with people. Several years ago, these viruses effectively splintered, with some dumping their N1 neuraminidase — a gene that produces a key protein found on the surface of flu viruses — and replacing it with another. The process is called reassortment, and, in this case, it resulted in the emergence of a lot of new pairings over a fairly short period of time.  

The most common and most dangerous viruses to emerge — for birds at least — have been H5N6 and H5N8 viruses. Both are highly pathogenic, meaning they kill domestic poultry. 

“The H5N1 virus has not gone away. It’s just changed into different versions of itself,” explained influenza expert Malik Peiris, a professor of virology at the University of Hong Kong. “We don’t know how the story’s going to end.”  

Peiris suggested it might be a mistake to see the evolution of the virus as nothing but a positive development.  

“It is good news, the fact that overall the H5N1 problems have reduced,” he said. “But you know, you can look at it the other way around. So now we have two high pathogenic [H5] viruses kicking around.”

ECDC: CDTR, week 48

ECDC has published Communicable disease threats report, 25 November-1 December 2018, Week 48. The abstract:

The ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) is a weekly bulletin for epidemiologists and health professionals on active public health threats. This issue covers the period from 25 November-1 December 2018 and includes updates on West Nile virus, Ebola virus disease, influenza, cholera and influenza A(H5N6).