H5N1

Japan: First H5N6 mass infection among wild ground birds

Via The Mainichi: Japan's 1st deadly mass avian flu infections among wild ground birds hits crows in Hyogo. Excerpt:

ITAMI, Hyogo -- A recent spate of crow fatalities at a park here has been confirmed to be caused by the country's first known cases of deadly mass infections of avian flu among wild ground birds, raising an alarm among the Environment Ministry and other concerned parties. 

Since last fall, when the current avian flu season set in, jungle crows that were found dead at Koyaike Park in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, have accounted for some 70 percent of dead wild birds across the country that have been put to simple virus tests. Among them, at least 100 carcasses have been retrieved. While there is little chance of the avian flu virus being transmitted to humans, authorities are scrambling to determine the cause of the deadly mass infection phenomenon. 

According to the Environment Ministry and other sources, dead crows were found at the park for the first time this season on March 1. Carcasses of crows have since been retrieved one after another at the park, with the highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of bird flu virus detected in 38 of them.  

Apart from this, the Itami Municipal Government has also collected the carcasses of about 70 other birds. While the causes of their deaths have yet to be determined, most of them are believed to have died from bird flu. 

The city has cordoned off part of Koyaike Park since March, and the Environment Ministry designated an area within a 10-kilometer radius from the park as a section where wild birds are closely monitored. The designation is expected to be effective until later this month. 

Previously, domestic avian flu deaths among wild birds were mostly water birds. Since last fall, the domestic cases of birds confirmed to have died from avian flu were also predominantly water birds. An official at the Environment Ministry's Office for Wildlife Management said, "It is unusual for wild ground birds to be infected in groups at one single location."

UK: H5N6 bird flu outbreak near Bourne

Via the Rutland and Stamford Mercury: Bird flu outbreak near Bourne. Excerpt:

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Lincolnshire Trading Standards have issued a warning after cases of bird flu were discovered on farmland near Bourne.  

Defra has confirmed that H5N6 – a subtype of the species Influenza A virus – was discovered in two Greylag Geese and two wild pheasants, which were found dead on farmland near Bourne on February 28. 

A Lincolnshire Trading Standards spokesman said: “Defra conducts regular checks on wild birds and in February it discovered four deaths in Greylag Geese and wild Pheasants near Bourne.  

“As far as we are aware this is a new case of Avian Flu in wild birds.” 

The discovery has not led to any restrictions in the movement of domestic or commercial birds, but the prevention zone has been extended to cover the whole of England and 
Wales. 

The trading standards spokesman continued: “Anyone keeping poultry or birds must follow our detailed requirements on strict biosecurity, whether they have commercial flocks or just a few birds in a backyard 
flock."

H5N6 bird flu discovered in Guangxi province, China

Via the Express: Bird flu discovered in Guangxi Province, China. Excerpt:

The dangerous H5N6 bird flu has been detected at the duck farm in Guangxi Province.  

The strain was described as “highly pathogenic” by the OIE, the World Organisation for Animal Health. 

The Chinese Agriculture Ministry said the virus killed 23,950 ducks out of a flock of 30,462 ducks.

Avian flu outbreaks emerge across the globe

Via Poultry World, a good summary of the situation: Avian flu outbreaks emerge across the globe.

Highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks have affected countries in Europe, Asia and Africa in the past week. Countries hit are the Netherlands, India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. 

Dutch officials have reported that an outbreak of H5 poultry reported near the city of Oldekerk has been confirmed as reassortant H5N6, according to a report from the OIE. 

CIDRAP reported the virus killed 230 of nearly 28,000 susceptible birds, with the remaining birds culled to control the virus spread. In a separate report, officials also reported H5N6 in a wild duck found dead in North Holland.  

South Africa, which has been hit hard by avian influenza, has reported another H5N8 outbreak in backyard poultry. Further H5N8 cases have been found in seabirds in the Western Cape province.  

In Saudi Arabia, officials have reported 7 more cases of H5N8 bird flu on farms in Riyadh province, which killed nearly 38,000 birds. The remaining 450,000 susceptible birds were also destroyed. 

And in India, authorities have detected H5N1 in house crows in the city of Pardeep in Orissa state in the eastern part of the country. The event has led to the death of more than 170 crows but the source of the virus is not known.

Denmark: Bird flu discovered in dead eagle on Zealand

Via CPH Post: Bird flu discovered in dead eagle on Zealand. Excerpt:

The national veterinary institute, DTU Vet, has revealed it has discovered bird flu in a dead white-tailed eagle found near Slagelse in Zealand. 

According to the Food and Environment Ministry, the bird flu type is most likely H5N6, which is highly deadly to birds. There’s no need for the public to be overly alarmed, said the ministry. 

 “Firstly, birds of prey are the most sensitive to getting bird flu because they eat other birds, dead and alive,” John Larsen, a spokesperson for the ministry, said according to BT Tabloid. 

“Secondly, we’ve known this type of bird flu for over a year from cases in other countries like South Korea. And it hasn’t been a problem for humans.”  

Fødevarestyrelsen monitoring 

For now, the discovery won’t lead to more stringent protocol for fowl farmers, but that could change should more contaminated birds be found, such as in late 2016.  

According to Larsen, it’s the first instance of bird flu discovered in a wild bird in Denmark since April 2017. And there hasn’t been a bird flu case among kept Danish birds since February 2017.

Vietnam warns of possible new bird flu outbreaks

Via Xinhua: Vietnam warns of possible new bird flu outbreaks. Interestingly, it doesn't mention H5N1, which was a recurring problem in Vietnam for years.

The Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has warned of a high risk of the return of avian influenza in Vietnam after the epidemic was put under control for a long period of time.  

The department said one hotbed of A/H5N6 bird flu virus had been reported recently in Dai Ban commune, An Duong district, northern Hai Phong city, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday.

It noted some avian flu strains that have not been reported in Vietnam such as A/H7N9, A/H5N2 and A/H5N8 may enter the country through the transportation, trading and consumption of poultry and poultry products with obscure origin, especially in border provinces and the localities consuming smuggled poultry products. 

The department urged localities to take the initiative in bird flu prevention, crack down on poultry smuggling, and keep a close watch on local situation in order to timely respond to any outbreak. 

Meanwhile, foot-and-mouth and blue-ear diseases are also likely to break out among livestock that are unvaccinated or transported to former hotbeds.  

The animal health agency called on vulnerable localities to augment monitoring, vaccination and control of livestock transportation and slaughtering to minimize risks of disease outbreak and spread.

Ireland: First case of H5N6 bird flu confirmed in County Tipperary

Via The Irish Times: First case of bird flu strain confirmed in Co Tipperary. Excerpt:

A white-tailed sea eagle found dead in Co Tipperary was carrying the only case detected in Ireland so far of a highly infectious strain of bird flu, it has been confirmed. 

The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that tests had shown the type of avian flu found in the dead bird was a “highly pathogenic” strain previously confirmed in Britain and mainland Europe.  

Farmers were warned to take precautions after the eagle was found dead on January 31st but health authorities said the risk to the public was very low and that there was no food safety risk for consumers. 

In a statement on Friday, the department said tests had confirmed the avian flu subtype found in the bird was H5N6 and that it was the only case detected in the Republic so far.  

“As previously advised, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has confirmed that the risk to humans is considered to be very low,” it added.

Vietnam: Bird flu outbreak casts pall over Tết

Via VietNam News: Bird flu outbreak casts pall over Tết. Excerpt:

The Ministry of Health urged city and provincial people’s committees, health departments and citizens across the country to take preventions against a possible bird flu over the next 16 days ahead of the Lunar New Year and during first months of the new year.  

Trần Đắc Phu, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Ministry, said that the urgent recommendation came after evaluations during the late months of 2017 and early 2018 showing that newly-emerging infectious diseases such as Mers - CoV continue to be reported in the Middle East, along with influenza A/ H7N9 in China, nld.com.vn online newspaper reported. 

Meanwhile in Việt Nam, influenza A / H5N1 and A / H5N6 continue to occur in poultry in many areas and are at risk of transmission to humans. 

According to Phu, from January 17 to 19, bird flu was detected at a poultry-breeding farm in Diễn Châu District, the central province of Nghệ An.  

Nearly 200 of the 800 poultry at the farm died, while the farm’s owner reported his poultry herd wasn’t vaccinated against bird flu.  

The Department of Animal Health at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has warned that many types of influenza A /H7N9 virus and other highly virulent strains such as A/ H5N2, A/H5N8 that haven’t yet appeared in Việt Nam are at risk of entering the country.  

The main route of transmission was smuggling of poultry and unknown-origin poultry products. Therefore, the Department of Animal Health asked local authorities to be active in prevention and controlling the threat of bird flu outbreaks, strengthen inspection and strictly tackle poultry smuggling and illegal transporting.  

Local authorities and relevant departments should closely monitor the situation to ensure timely action against outbreaks. 

About the possibility of a bird flu outbreak in the Tết period and first months of the new year, the Ministry of Health warned the disease could present a complicated challenge due to the spring weather, people’s over-use of food during and after Tết holidays and high travel demand. All these factors increase the risk of transmission. 

Nguyễn Văn Kính, Director of the Central Tropical Disease Hospital, said the cold and humid weather was creating conditions for influenza viruses to develop. At some clinics, many patients were reported with seasonal influenza viruses such as H1N1 and H3N2, but the clinical symptoms were very severe.

North, South Korea hit by flu outbreaks ahead of Olympics

Via VOA: North, South Korea Hit by Flu Outbreaks Ahead of Olympics. Excerpt:

North and South Korea are reporting outbreaks of different strains of influenza, less than two weeks before thousands of visitors from around the world arrive for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in the South.  

North Korea’s Ministry of Public Health reported over 80,000 confirmed cases of the influenza strain H1N1 that is endemic in pigs, known as swine flu, between December 1, 2017 and January 16, 2018, according to a bulletin issued by the International Foundation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. 

Aid and sanctions 

The Red Cross cited North Korean health ministry officials saying that three children and one adult have died so far in the outbreak and that there are over 120,000 suspected swine flu cases in the country, and that the outbreak is nationwide with 28 percent of the cases reported in the capital of Pyongyang. 

The North Korean government has requested medication to vaccinate high-risk individuals from the World Health Organization and the U.N. International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), as well as training and equipment for prevention, detection, and treatment to limit the impact of the influenza outbreak. The WHO and UNICEF have not publicly commented on the request. 

The Red Cross is planning for $270,000 in emergency aid that includes sending volunteers with masks and protective clothing to conduct training in at risk areas in North Korea. 

“The majority of the component of what we are gong to do is hygiene promotion and health education,” said Gwendolyn Pang, acting head of the Red Cross office in Pyongyang.

See also this excellent post by Mike Coston on Avian Flu Diary.

South Korea: H5N6 bird flu detected on chicken farm in southwestern Gyeonggi Province

Via The Korea Herald, a Yonhap report: Bird flu detected on chicken farm in southwestern Gyeonggi Province. 

Bird flu has been detected at a chicken farm in a city in southern Gyeonggi Province, the agriculture ministry said Saturday, in the latest in a series of discoveries of the highly pathogenic virus in poultry farms around the country. 

Bird flu was found at a farm with some 147,700 layer chickens, in Hwaseong, about 43 kilometers southwest of Seoul, where birds tested positive for the H5N6 strain of avian influenza (AI), according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 

The ministry conducted tests in all poultry farms in the region and imposed a temporary ban on the distribution of any poultry products in traditional markets. Anyone who works at the farm will be quarantined for the next seven days, the ministry added.

The government will release its final test results on Sunday over whether the new AI case reported on a chicken farm in Pyeongtaek, another city in Gyeonggi Province, is also highly pathogenic. 

A 24-hour standstill order on poultry, equipment and livestock breeders has been in effect since late Friday. 

Quarantine officials have culled 145,000 chickens as part of preventive measures. They plan to slaughter another 200,000 from two other farms located within a 500-meter radius. 

Since the first outbreak of highly pathogenic AI in November, South Korea has confirmed 11 bird flu cases and culled 1.46 million ducks and chickens. The majority of outbreaks occurred in Jeolla Province in the country's southwest, a major duck farming region.