13,000 birds killed due to Bird Flu in Cheshire, England, UK
Thirteen thousand birds are to be culled at farm in Cheshire after avian flu was confirmed there.
The H5N8 strain of bird flu was detected at a broiler breeders premises in Frodsham, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.
It said it was not related to the H5N2 strain found at a small farm near Deal in Kent earlier.
Public Health England (PHE) said the risk to public health was “very low”.
All 13,000 birds at the farm, which produces hatching eggs, will be culled, said Defra.
Further testing is under way to determine if it is a highly pathogenic strain and whether it is related to the virus currently circulating in Europe.
The UK’s chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss, said: “Immediate steps have been taken to limit the risk of the disease spreading.
“This includes 3km and 10km temporary control zones around the infected site.
“We are urgently looking for any evidence of disease spread associated with this farm to control and eliminate it.”
Dr Gavin Dabrera from PHE said: “There have never been any confirmed cases of H5N8 in humans and the risk to public health is considered very low.”
A Food Standards Agency spokesperson said: “On the basis of the current scientific evidence, avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers.
“Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, remain safe to eat.”
Courtesy of BBC News
Hundreds of birds killed due to Bird Flu in Kent, England, UK
Hundreds of birds are to be culled at a farm in Kent where an outbreak of avian influenza of the H5N2 strain has been detected.
A 1km restricted zone has been placed around the premises near Deal “to prevent the disease spreading”.
Public Health England (PHE) said the risk to the UK population was “very low” but it was “looking for evidence of spread to control and eliminate it”.
All 480 birds at the site are to be “humanely culled”.
The UK’s chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss, said: “Immediate steps have been taken to limit the risk of the disease spreading and all remaining poultry and captive birds at the farm will be culled.”
There will be no impact on food supply as the farm does not supply poultry, meat or eggs commercially, she added.
Bird keepers have been told to remain alert for signs of disease and to report suspected cases immediately.
“We are urgently looking for any evidence of disease spread associated with this farm to control and eliminate it,” Ms Middlemiss said.
Dr Gavin Dabrera, consultant in acute respiratory infections at PHE, said bird flu was an “uncommon infection” in humans.
But he advised people not to touch sick or dead birds and to wash hands thoroughly with soap after contact with any animal.
The Food Standards Agency said properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, were safe to eat.
Courtesy of BBC News
450,000, chickens killed due to Bird Flu in Victoria, Australia #Chickens #BirdFlu #Victoria #Australia
Almost half a million birds have been infected with bird flu after outbreaks at four Victorian farms.
The first infections were detected at a farm in Lethbridge, 95km southwest of Melbourne on July 31, followed by outbreaks at two more Lethbridge farms at the beginning of August.
A fourth poultry farm near Bairnsdale, 280km east of Melbourne, was also infected on August 10.
Now around 450,000 birds are thought to be affected as authorities rush to contain the highly contagious disease.
Health authorities have quarantined the four sites and are working to ‘depopulate’ the affected birds before the end of the week.
Turkeys from the first Lethbridge farm are thought to be responsible for the spread of the virus. All poultry at the site has been destroyed.
Victoria’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Graeme Cooke said two strains of the virus, H7N7 and H5N2 had been detected.
He confirmed that the most viral, the H7N7 strain, was found at two farms in Lethbridge.
‘Highly pathogenic strains, like the H7N7 that was recently detected in Golden Plains Shire, cause severe clinical signs and high death rates among poultry,’ he said.
‘However, we have now also detected a low pathogenic H5N2 strain. This typically causes much reduced clinical signs in comparison.’
The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services confirmed neither virus is a risk to the public unless there is ‘direct and close contact with sick birds’.
There are also no food safety issues because properly cooked poultry meat and eggs are still safe to eat.
Despite the low risk to people, movement controls were put in place within a 2km area of the Bairnsdale farm while the restricted area in Lethbridge remains in place.
Dr Cook said Agriculture Victoria would step up its surveillance activities within the Golden Plains Shire control area to help contain the virus.
‘Agriculture Victoria is actively investigating the connection between the two premises and further surveillance activities may be required,’ he said.
‘These controls prohibit the movement of birds, related equipment and products within and out of the designated Control Area unless a permit for movement has been granted by Agriculture Victoria until further notice.’
Both strains of the virus affect chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, quail, pheasants and ostriches.
Many species of wild birds, including waterfowl and seabirds, can also carry the virus without any symptoms.
Dr Cooke said the outbreaks were a reminder to all bird owners, however many birds they have, to always practice good biosecurity.
He also encouraged bird owners not to allow wild birds to mix with domestic birds where possible.
Australia has previously experienced incursions of avian influenza viruses which were successfully eradicated.
Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk
Hundreds of thousands of birds killed due to Newcastle Disease and Bird Flu in Dominican Republic #birds #NewcastleDisease #BirdFlu #Dominican
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has registered four cases of “Newcastle” disease and another 12 cases of H5N2 Avian Influenza, of low pathogenicity, as notified by the Dominican authorities in two separate reports to the international organization and in which explains the measures that are being implemented to attack the problem that has affected more than 180,400 broilers and fighting birds (fighting roosters) only for the virus known in the country as “distemper.”
Due to the mildly pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N2, the General Directorate of Livestock (Digega), of the Ministry of Agriculture, registered in the OIE 12 cases, which were reported in December 2019, in which summary it indicates the death of 13,848 laying hens, chicks and broilers for this virus.
The report by Dr. Nimia Lissette Gómez Rodríguez, director of Animal Health, Digega, explains that the Newcastle virus that has been affecting poultry farming in the Dominican Republic is being controlled with several measures that include quarantine, surveillance, destruction at the source, vaccination, disinfection, among others, which also apply in the case of influenza infection.
Both the Newcastle virus and the mildly pathogenic influenza virus, present in several areas of the country, offer no danger to humans.
In the four outbreaks, notified as resolved by the country before the OIE, are found in Peravia, Paya, Baní, where 13,191 birds susceptible to the disease were registered, of which 6,809 were notified dead and 6,382 as already eliminated.
The second focus was identified and resolved in San Cristóbal, with 17,000 susceptible birds, of which 10,936 are recorded dead and 6,064 slaughtered.
The third occurred in Santiago, Villa González, affecting fighting birds and where they were all killed. The fourth and last focus occurred in Peravia, Cañafistol, with 149,966 susceptible cases, of which 45,455 were killed and the remaining 104,511 were killed.
The cases that affected a total of 180,407 birds, mostly broilers, involved measures of bird slaughter and outbreak vaccination. According to the report, 180,407 birds were affected by Newcastle, of which 169,177 cases were detected, of which 63,350 have been killed, 110,893 have been killed and eliminated and 6,064 have been slaughtered.
Courtesy of listindiario.com
23,000 chickens killed due to avian flu in Yunlin, Taiwan #BirdFlu #AvianFlu #H5N2 #chickens #Taiwan
Over 23,000 chickens on a farm in Yunlin County were culled Wednesday after confirmation a day earlier of an avian flu breakout there, according to the county’s Animal and Plant Disease Center.
The center said in a statement that the slaughter was conducted on the farm in Dounan Township after it was confirmed Tuesday that the farm’s livestock had been struck by the highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza.
On Dec. 28, the farm owner reported to the center that some 600 of his chickens had died, the center said.
In 2019, a total of 53 poultry farms in the county were confirmed to have been hit by avian flu, with 289,000 birds culled, compared with 446,000 on 62 local farms in 2018, according to center data.
The center noted that the March-July and November-December periods are the peak seasons in Taiwan for avian flu, a virus that affects chickens, ducks, geese and turkey on farms mostly in central and southern Taiwan.
Courtesy of focustaiwan.tw
5,000+ #ducks killed due to #BirdFlu in #Taiwan
A farm in southern Taiwan had to cull 5,119 ducks after a sample tested positive for the H5N2 strain of avian influenza.
Liberty Times reported Monday (Sept. 9) the outbreak occurred at a duck farm in Wandan Township, Pingtung County, according to the city’s Animal Disease Control Center. Birds affected with the highly-pathogenic virus strain do not usually appear ill – hence, infection is determined through sampling.
Sterilization measures have been taken at the poultry farm and in the surrounding areas following the outbreak. Monitoring work will be enforced within a 1-kilometer radius of the affected duck farm, the center said.
Animal health authorities urged the island’s poultry farmers to avoid free range husbandry, so as to reduce the chances of bird flu spreading. They were also urged to report any irregularities so the disease can be effectively controlled.
Courtesy of taiwannews.com.tw
28,000 #chickens killed due to #BirdFlu in #Changhua, #Taiwan
On Saturday (June 22), Taiwan’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (農委會防檢局) announced that a poultry farm in Changhua County’s Fangyuan Township (芳苑鄉) was discovered to be infected with the H5N2 strain of the avian flu.
Out of concern for public welfare and to help safeguard other poultry operations nearby, the bureau ordered and carried out a culling of 27,960 nine week old chickens, on Saturday reports CNA.
This is the 26th confirmed case of a bird flu infected site in 2019 according to the report. In 2018, there were a total of 62 cases recorded.
The largest culling operation so far in 2019 also took place in Changhua, when 32,500 chickens were killed in February.
According to CNA, the owner of the poultry farm voluntarily alerted authorities of the presence of the disease among the livestock. As is standard procedure, officials from the bureau confirmed the presence and variety of the disease, before immediately ordering the chicken’s culled and the site disinfected.
Courtesy of taiwannews.com.tw
660,000 birds killed due to bird flu in Kostroma Oblast, Russia
41,000 birds killed due to bird flu in Zeeland, Netherlands
130,000 birds killed due to birds flu in Taiwan
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