A separate influenza strain, H1N1, that emerged from pigs and spread rapidly worldwide among humans led the WHO to declare an influenza pandemic in 2009-10. The outbreak turned out to be mild among humans.

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

Seven people in Russia were found to be infected with H5N8, but all were asymptomatic following an outbreak on a poultry farm in the southern oblast (region) of Astrakhan, a WHO statement said. The death of 101,000 of the farm’s 900,000 egg-laying hens in December had sparked the investigation, it said.

“All close contacts of these cases were clinically monitored, and no one showed signs of clinical illness,” it said. “Based on currently available information, the risk of human-to-human transmission remains low.”

The WHO advised against any special traveller screening at points of entry or restrictions on travel and or trade with the Russian Federation, it added.

Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain were reported last year in poultry or wild birds in Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Russia, according to WHO.

The WHO statement said that developing zoonotic influenza candidate vaccine viruses for potential use in human vaccines remains an essential part of WHO strategy for influenza pandemic preparedness.

— Stephanie Nebehay reports on international health issues for Reuters from Geneva.

The post Risk of human spread of H5N8 bird flu deemed low appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Multiple outbreaks have been reported in poultry farms and wild flocks across Europe, Africa and Asia in the past three months. While most involve strains that are currently low risk for human health, the sheer number of different types, and their presence in so many parts of the world at the same time, increases the risk of viruses mixing and mutating — and possibly jumping to people.

“This is a fundamental change in the natural history of influenza viruses,” Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease specialist at University of Minnesota, said of the proliferation of bird flu in terms of geography and strains — a situation he described as “unprecedented.”

Global health officials are worried another strain could make a jump into humans, like H5N1 did in the late 1990s. It has since caused hundreds of human infections and deaths, but has not acquired the ability to transmit easily from person to person.

The greatest fear is that a deadly strain of avian flu could then mutate into a pandemic form that can be passed easily between people — something that has not yet been seen.

While avian flu has been a prominent public health issue since the 1990s, ongoing outbreaks have never been so widely spread around the world — something infectious disease experts put down to greater resilience of strains currently circulating, rather than improved detection or reporting.

While there would normally be around two or three bird flu strains recorded in birds at any one time, now there are at least half a dozen, including H5N1, H5N2, H5N8 and H7N8.

The Organization for Animal Health (OIE) says the concurrent outbreaks in birds in recent months are “a global public health concern” and the World Health Organization’s director-general warned this week the world “cannot afford to miss the early signals” of a possible human flu pandemic.

The precise reasons for the unusually large number and sustained nature of bird outbreaks in recent months, and the proliferation of strains, is unclear — although such developments compound the global spreading process.

Bird flu is usually spread through flocks through direct contact with an infected bird. But Osterholm said wild birds could be “shedding” more of the virus in droppings and other secretions, increasing infection risks. He added that there now appears to be “aerosol transmission from one infected barn to others, in some cases many miles away.”

Ian MacKay, a virologist at Australia’s University of Queensland, said the current proliferation of strains means that “by definition, there is an increased risk” to humans.

“You’ve got more exposures, to more farmers, more often, and in greater numbers, in more parts of the world — so there has to be an increased risk of spillover human cases,” he told Reuters.

Britain to Bangladesh

Nearly 40 countries have reported new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry or wild birds since November, according to the WHO.

In China, H7N9 strains of bird flu have been infecting both birds and people, with the of human cases rising in recent weeks due to the peak of the flu season there. According to the WHO, more than 900 people have been infected with H7N9 bird flu since it emerged in early 2013.

In birds, latest data from the OIE should that outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian flu have been detected in Britain, Italy, Kuwait and Bangladesh in the last few days alone.

Russia’s agriculture watchdog issued a statement describing the situation as “extremely tense” as it reported H5N8 flu outbreaks in another four regions. Hungarian farmers have had to cull three million birds, mostly geese and ducks.

These come on top of epidemics across Europe and Asia which have been ongoing since late last year, leading to mass culling of poultry in many countries.

Strains currently documented as circulating in birds include H5N8 in many parts of Europe as well as in Kuwait, Egypt and elsewhere, and H5N1 in Bangladesh and India.

In Africa — which experts say is especially vulnerable to missing flu outbreak warning signs due to limited local government capacities and weak animal and human health services — H5N1 outbreaks have been reported in birds in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and Togo. H5N8 has been detected in Tunisia and Egypt, and H7N1 in Algeria.

The U.S. has, so far this year, largely escaped bird flu, but is on high alert after outbreaks of H5N2, a highly pathogenic bird flu, hit farms in 15 states in 2015 and led to the culling of more than 43 million poultry.

David Nabarro, a former senior WHO official who has also served as U.N. system senior coordinator for avian and human influenza, says the situation is worrying. “For me the threat from avian influenza is the most serious (to public health), because you never know when,” he told Reuters in Geneva.

Highly pathogenic H5N1

H5N1 is under close surveillance by health authorities around the world. It has long been seen as one to watch, feared by infectious disease experts because of its pandemic potential if it were to mutate an acquire human-to-human transmission capability.

A highly pathogenic virus, it jumped into humans in Hong Kong in 1997 and then re-emerged in 2003-04, spreading from Asia to Europe and Africa. It has caused hundreds of infections and deaths in people and prompted the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry.

Osterholm noted that some currently circulating H5 strains — including distant relatives of H5N1 — are showing significant capabilities for sustaining their spread between wild flocks and poultry, from region to region and farm to farm.

“What we’re learning about H5 is, that whether it’s H5N6, H5N8, H5N2 or H5N5, this is a very dangerous bird virus.”

Against that background, global health authorities and infectious disease experts want awareness, surveillance and vigilance stepped up.

Wherever wild birds are found to be infected, they say, and wherever there are farms or smallholdings with affected poultry or aquatic bird flocks, regular, repeated and consistent testing of everyone and anyone who comes into contact is vital.

“Influenza is a very tough beast because it changes all the time, so the ones we’re tracking may not include one that suddenly emerges and takes hold,” said MacKay.

“Right now, it’s hard to say whether we’re doing enough (to keep on top of the threat). I guess that while it isn’t taking off, we seem to be doing enough.”

— Kate Kelland is a Reuters health and science correspondent based in London. Additional reporting for Reuters by Ed Stoddard in Johannesburg, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Polina Devitt in Moscow and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.

The post Proliferation of bird flu outbreaks raises pandemic risk appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The eastward spread of any strain of the highly contagious H5 virus is worrying to farmers and investigators, who have hoped that warmer spring weather would help lower the number of infections in birds and curtail the virus’ spread.

The H5N8 strain found in a backyard poultry flock in Indiana is concerning to them also. It is different from the H5N2 strain that has been confirmed in scores of Midwestern farms and resulted in the death or culling of nearly 30 million birds so far.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday announced bans on travellers’ cross-border imports of live birds, eggs, uncooked poultry and poultry products from Indiana, similar to those announced for previous states with avian flu outbreaks. The ban also applies to commercial-level imports from quarantine zones in affected states.

The highly pathogenic H5N8 strain had been seen only in the Pacific flyway during this outbreak. Federal and state officials have confirmed it in commercial chicken and turkey farms in California and a backyard poultry flock in Oregon.

The strain was also found in captive falcons in Idaho and Washington, according to the USDA. The CFIA also recently confirmed H5N8 in a wild duck carcass found at a bird sanctuary near Abbotsford, B.C. in February.

How the H5N8 virus moved eastward is not yet known.

“We’re working on the epidemiology, but the new finding of H5N8 is mostly likely due to a new introduction by waterfowl,” USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) spokeswoman Joelle Hayden said in a statement.

The H5 strains in the current U.S. outbreak pose a low risk to human health, experts say, and no human infections have been identified so far.

Eggs companies hit

The U.S. poultry and egg industry has been grappling for months with the biggest outbreak on record of avian influenza in the U.S.

The economic ripple effects are starting to be felt, from baked goods companies feeling a squeeze on egg supplies to Hormel Foods unit Jennie-O Turkey Store announcing a planned, temporary layoff of 233 workers at a Minnesota plant because the outbreak has reduced turkey supplies.

On Monday, shares of the largest U.S. egg supplier, Cal-Maine Foods, touched a record high after TheFlyOnTheWall.com said research firm Sidoti and Co. raised its price target on the stock, citing better egg pricing power following a shortage of egg-laying hens due to the outbreak.

Last week, Post Holdings said chickens at one of its third-party contractors, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the company’s egg supply, had tested positive for bird flu. The company, which said it is analyzing the financial impact of the news, did not respond to requests for comment.

Outbreak in Indiana

USDA confirmed the Indiana test results on Sunday and the site in Whitley County has been quarantined.

Indiana State Board of Animal Health officials worked with the birds’ owner to cull the 77-bird backyard flock before the final positive test came back from the federal laboratory, a spokeswoman told Reuters. The flock was a mix of ducks, chickens, geese and turkeys. The flock was culled on Saturday.

There have been three strains of H5 identified in North America in this outbreak.

The H5N2 strain has been reported in Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin.

H5N2 was also identified on 12 farms in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley in December and three farms in southwestern Ontario’s Oxford County last month.

The CFIA also confirmed the H5N1 strain at a “non-commercial” farm near Chilliwack, B.C. in February.

The agency on Monday emphasized there’s no food safety risk associated with the Indiana products being barred from entry, and its measures are meant “to prevent the introduction of avian influenza into other parts of Canada.”

— P.J. Huffstutter reports on the agriculture sector for Reuters from Chicago. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

The post H5N8 avian flu found in Indiana appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Friday reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), noting such a detection in wild birds “should not disrupt trade between member countries” according to OIE guidelines.

The virus, found in an American wigeon carcass at a wild bird sanctuary near Abbotsford, is a “wholly Eurasian” H5N8 and “very similar” to the H5N8 isolated from a gyrfalcon found in Washington state in December last year, CFIA said.

CFIA emphasized this is the first report of a high-path H5N8 virus in Canada and the strain has not yet been found in commercial poultry anywhere in the country.

Samples from the duck carcass were taken in early February as part of the B.C. government’s ongoing surveillance and arrived for testing at CFIA’s national lab in Winnipeg on March 25. The virus was confirmed and sequenced in the first two weeks of April, the agency said.

According to Ducks Unlimited, the American wigeon is an early spring migrant and breeds further north than any other dabbling duck, other than the northern pintail. Wigeons breed throughout northern Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Alaska and the Northwest Territories.

American wigeons’ diet is considered more vegetarian than that of any other dabbling duck, at 97 to 100 per cent plant matter during non-breeding periods.

The wigeon is an “opportunistic” feeder during migration and wintering, according to DU. Animal matter makes up 18 to 41 per cent of the wigeon’s diet during breeding season. — AGCanada.com Network

The post H5N8-positive wild duck found in B.C. appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The ban was expanded after outbreaks of avian flu in poultry in the past week in both states, including a backyard flock of chickens in Idaho infected with the H5N2 strain and a commercial turkey ranch in California with H5N8.

The ban, announced Monday, applies to commercial imports of live poultry, birds and “raw or untreated avian products” from specific quarantine zones within the states of California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington until further notice, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said.

CFIA, in its notice Monday, said travellers “may not bring” raw poultry and any poultry products and byproducts that aren’t fully cooked, including eggs and raw pet foods, into Canada from any of the affected states.

Restricted items include live birds and hatching eggs; eggs, yolks and egg whites; poultry meat other than fully cooked, canned, commercially sterile meat products; feathers; poultry manure and litter; and lab materials containing poultry products and/or byproducts.

Control measures

Live pet birds may be brought into Canada, CFIA said, but will need official certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

CFIA emphasized there’s “no food safety risk associated with these products” but that the measures are being taken to prevent introduction of avian flu into “other parts” of Canada.

CFIA is still monitoring December’s outbreaks of high-path H5N2 in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley region, which so far have included 11 turkey, broiler and egg operations in the region plus one backyard flock.

No new sites have been identified with avian flu since Dec. 19 and “depopulation” of all infected properties is complete, the agency said previously.

Cleaning and disinfection are now underway at the sites, after which disease control measures will stay in place for another 21 days.

If no new cases are found, either in traceouts or by other means, during a 90-day surveillance period, the affected zone can be considered free of avian flu, CFIA said.

Canadian federal health officials on Monday also confirmed an unrelated case of H7N9 avian flu in a B.C. resident, marking the first documented case of the virus in a human in North America. The person had returned Jan. 12 to Canada after visiting several locations in China. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Canada expands blocks on U.S. poultry, eggs appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The news on Saturday came just weeks after China banned U.S. poultry after an outbreak of another strain of bird flu in the Pacific Northwest.

In the latest outbreak, Foster Farms said in a statement it had informed the U.S. Department of Agriculture after detecting the H5N8 strain on a single turkey ranch in Stanislaus County following routine testing.

State and government labs confirmed the findings from samples submitted by Foster Farms, which had experienced a spike in bird deaths, according to the USDA.

USDA’s policy requires that the ranch be quarantined. The agency will humanely kill or destroy the birds to prevent the spread of the disease to migratory and commercial flocks.

In 2013, California produced 13 million turkeys, according to the latest USDA data.

The agency said H5N8 did not pose a health risk to the public, and birds from the involved flock would not enter the food system.

A few weeks ago, China had banned all imports of U.S. poultry, poultry products and eggs because of recent reports of highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza.

The ban came after Hong Kong in late December suspended imports of certain U.S. poultry and poultry products after two separate virus strains, including H5N2 in northern pintail ducks, were identified in Whatcom County, Washington, according to the USDA.

Until now, neither virus has been found in U.S. commercial poultry, and no human cases with these viruses have been detected in the U.S., Canada or internationally.

The discovery of bird flu on a commercial farm will undoubtedly cause more trade disruptions for the U.S., said Rabobank analyst Don Close.

“That is scary,” he said during a panel discussion at a commodity conference in Miami.

— Theopolis Waters reports on livestock markets for Reuters from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Tom Polansek in Miami.

The post California turkey farm quarantined after H5N8 detected appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Dec. 24 reported highly pathogenic (“high-path”) H5N2 avian flu in a backyard free-range flock of geese, turkeys, chickens, ducks and pigeons at Benton County in Washington.

That confirmation followed a backyard flock of guinea fowl and chickens at Winston, Oregon found Dec. 18 to have high-path H5N8. Both findings followed discoveries of the two subtypes in wild birds in the region.

USDA has since emphasized neither of the avian flu strains have yet been found in any commercial poultry flocks in either state.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Thursday announced new measures “to protect Canada’s poultry resources from an outbreak” of high-path avian flu.

All birds, all raw poultry and all poultry products and byproducts that are not fully cooked, including eggs and raw pet foods, sourced, processed, packaged or shipped from either state are now prohibited from entry into Canada until further notice, CFIA said.

USDA on Dec. 30 noted some countries have put such restrictions on U.S. poultry exports stemming from the Washington and Oregon findings — and some have put “far more restrictive measures than necessary” on U.S. products.

USDA said it’s “in communication with trading partners” to provide more information on the avian flu cases and “will press trading partners in the coming days to bring their import restrictions in line with OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) guidelines.”

OIE guidelines, USDA noted, call on countries to base trade restrictions on “sound science” and, where possible, limit restrictions to animals and products “within a defined region that pose a risk of spreading disease of concern.”

“No risk”

CFIA, for its part, emphasized there’s “no food safety risk” associated with any of the products being kept out of the country. CFIA said its measures are being taken to prevent introduction of avian flu into other parts of Canada.

CFIA is also still monitoring last month’s outbreaks of high-path H5N2 in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley region. The outbreak has so far included 11 turkey, broiler and egg operations in the region plus one backyard flock.

The agency, in a separate release Thursday, emphasized no new sites have been identified with avian flu since Dec. 19 and “depopulation” of all infected properties is complete.

Cleaning and disinfection are now underway at the sites, after which disease control measures will stay in place for another 21 days.

If no new cases are found, either in traceouts or by other means, during a 90-day surveillance period, the affected zone can be considered free of avian flu, CFIA said. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Canada blocks poultry, eggs from U.S. Northwest appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that the risk to humans was minimal, and that a cull of all 6,000 ducks on the farm in east Yorkshire should be completed later on Tuesday.

“The advice from the Chief Medical Officer and Public Health England remains that the risk to public health is very low,” said a Defra spokeswoman.

“The Food Standards Agency have said there is no food safety risk for consumers.”

Officials said Monday a 10-km restriction zone had been put in place around the duck farm.

In Sweden, the board of agriculture said poultry should be kept indoors as a preventative measure as it was possible that the current bird flu had been spread by wild birds. The viral disease infects wild water fowl such as ducks, geese and swans which can spread it to domestic poultry.

Britain has not seen a dangerous strain of avian flu since 2008, when a case of the deadly H5N1 strain was last reported in birds.

The H5N8 strain has never been detected in humans, but it led to the destruction of millions of farm birds in Asia, mainly South Korea, after an outbreak earlier this year.

Other bird populations in Europe were likely to be infected with bird flu and a few people might also be susceptible, although the virus is highly unlikely to spread in the human population, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

German discount chain Aldi South warned that it expected egg shortages due to a three-day ban on shipments of all poultry products from the Netherlands, the world’s largest egg exporter.

Dutch authorities said on Sunday that they had identified the H5N8 strain at a poultry farm in the central Netherlands, more than a week after the first reported case in Europe at a German turkey farm.

— Costas Pitas is a Reuters correspondent based in London, England. Additional reporting for Reuters by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm.

The post Britain confirms H5N8 in ducks on farm in north appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.