Concerns over record levels of Bird Flu as millions of birds are culled

Europe has experienced its worst bird flu crisis ever this year with almost 50 million poultry culled, according to the EU's Food Safety Agency.

The persistence of the virus over the summer has also raised the risk of widespread infections next season.

BirdWatch Ireland said it is very concerned by the increasing number of reports of sick and dead seabirds that it has been receiving in the past month. 

Gannets, in particular, appear to be badly affected. It is feared that many of these cases may be due to the virulent strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), or ‘bird ‘flu’, that is currently circulating in many parts of Europe and which has in particular devastated breeding seabird colonies in the UK and on the continent.

An unprecedented number of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus detections were reported in wild and domestic birds from June to September in Europe, according to the latest overview by EFSA, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and the EU reference laboratory.

In previous years, no cases or only a few cases were detected during the summer period. The overall 2021–2022 HPAI season has produced the largest epidemic so far observed in Europe.

Between 11 June and 9 September 2022, 788 HPAI virus detections were reported in 16 EU/EEA countries and the United Kingdom with 56 in poultry, 22 and 710 in captive and wild birds, respectively.

The unusual persistence in wild birds continued throughout the summer and occurred in 15 European countries. The virus reached sea bird breeding colonies on the north Atlantic coast, causing massive mortality, particularly in Germany, France, Netherlands, and the UK.

Heavily infected wild birds presented an ongoing risk of infection for domestic birds too. From June to September, the number of outbreaks in domestic birds declined compared to previous months, but was more than five times higher compared to the same period the year before.

“With cases detected in poultry and wild birds up to September, the current epidemic is clearly still ongoing. As autumn migration begins and the number of wild birds wintering in Europe increases, they are likely at higher risk of HPAI infection than previous years due to the observed persistence of the virus in Europe”, said Guilhem de Seze, Head of the Risk Assessment Production Department at EFSA.

EFSA recommends the rapid implementation of suitable and sustainable HPAI mitigation strategies, including appropriate biosecurity measures and surveillance strategies for early detection.

Medium to long-term prevention strategies should be considered in densely populated areas and in poultry production systems highly susceptible to avian influenza exposure.