This is what’s happening with bird flu in Europe

According to the latest update of the European Commission’s Animal Disease Information System (September 8, 2023) collected by the Spanish Poultry Science Association, a total of 385 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in poultry occurred in 21 countries in 2023.

Since the last update on 8 July, only 7 new outbreaks in poultry have been recorded: 2 in France, 1 in Germany, 1 in Italy, 1 in Réunion, 1 in Denmark and 1 in the Netherlands (this is the highest number in the past 7 years) of the first month).

Among wild birds, 3,272 outbreaks have been confirmed in 27 countries, and among non-commercial birds, 89 outbreaks have been confirmed in 15 countries. Although the disease has not particularly affected European commercial birds this summer, widespread seabird mortality, particularly in Norway, remains a concern for the European commercial poultry industry. France is currently preparing to start vaccinating ducks in October. The Netherlands has started vaccinating 1,800 day-old chicks in a field trial commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. In the Netherlands, a commercial farm with 11,000 laying hens in Biddinghuizen in the central province of Flevoland has again declared the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza, losing the “disease-free” status achieved in May.

In Finland, the disease affects the fur industry (American mink, arctic fox and raccoon) in 10 different locations. Norway reported that HPAI H5N1 virus was found in a dead wild red fox near Tromso in the north of the country.

The Netherlands has informed the Committee of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a poultry farm in the province of Flevoland. In order to prevent any unnecessary disruption to intra-Union trade and to prevent third countries from imposing unreasonable trade barriers, it is necessary to quickly describe at Union level the protected areas and surveillance areas formally established by this Member State.