Tag: H5N8

DEVELOPING: A bird flu outbreak is now spreading across Europe and Asia

ETH – November 15, 2021

Several outbreaks of severe bird flu in Europe and Asia have been reported in recent days to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), in a sign the virus is spreading quickly again.

According to Reuters, The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has put the poultry industry on alert after previous outbreaks led to the culling of tens of millions of birds. Outbreaks also often lead to trade restrictions.

According to the Daily Sabah, It is also attracting the attention of epidemiologists as the virus can be transmitted to humans. China has reported 21 human infections with the H5N6 subtype of avian influenza so far this year, more than in the whole of 2020.

South Korea reported an outbreak at a farm of around 770,000 poultry in Chungcheongbuk-do, the OIE said on Monday, citing a report from the South Korean authorities.

All animals were slaughtered. Also in Asia, Japan reported its first outbreak of the 2021 winter season, at a poultry farm in the northeast of the country, the OIE said, confirming a statement last week by Japan’s agriculture ministry. The serotype in this outbreak was H5N8. In Europe, Norway reported an H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the Rogaland region in a flock of 7,000 birds, the OIE said.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

France orders lockdown… for domestic fowl over bird-flu threat

RT – November 5, 2021

The French Agriculture Ministry has ordered the country’s poultry farmers to keep their fowl indoors to prevent the potential spread of a highly contagious bird-flu strain via migratory birds.

The ministry published the order in the French official journal on Thursday, citing the “rising infection rate in migratory corridors” as a sufficient reason to consider the potential infection risk “high” across the country.

The measure is aimed at protecting farms, as no cases in humans have been reported so far. The ministry announced the move after a highly contagious H5 strain of bird flu was discovered at a farm in the neighboring Netherlands. The discovery prompted a cull of 36,000 birds as part of the Dutch authorities’ precautionary measures. The Netherlands then also introduced a “lockdown” for poultry on its territory

The UK declared a nationwide Avian Influenza Prevention Zone on Wednesday, demanding farmers toughen their infection prevention measures, but stopping short of ordering them to keep fowl indoors. The move followed the discovery of several bird-flu cases in wild birds in the UK.

“Since the beginning of August, 130 bird-flu cases or clusters have been detected in wild animals or on farms in Europe,” the French ministry said on Thursday, adding that the list included at least three cases among domestic birds in northeastern France. The three bird flu outbreaks detected in France were related to the H5N8 strain.

The avian flu strain, H5N1, is notorious for its high mortality rate of around 60% in humans, and is contracted via contact with the excretions of infected birds. The World Health Organization still considers the risk of its human-to-human transmission to be “low.”

https://www.newsmax.com

Russia reports world’s first case of human infection with H5N8 bird flu

Polina Devitt, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – February 20, 2021

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has registered the first case of a strain of bird flu virus named A(H5N8) being passed to humans from birds and has reported the matter to the World Health Organization (WHO), Anna Popova, head of consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said on Saturday.

Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain have been reported in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa in recent months but so far only in poultry. Other strains – H5N1, H7N9 and H9N2 – have been known here) to spread to humans.

Russia reported the case of human infection to the WHO “several days ago, just as we became absolutely certain of our results,” Popova said on Rossiya 24 state TV. There was no sign yet of transmission between humans, she added.

Seven workers at a poultry plant in Russia’s south had been infected with the H5N8 strain in an outbreak at the plant in December, Popova said, adding that the individuals involved felt fine now. “This situation did not develop further,” she said.

In an email WHO’s European arm said it had been notified by Russia about a case of human infection with H5N8 and acknowledged this would if confirmed be the first time the strain had infected people.

https://www.reuters.com