An unprecedented number of highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) virus detections were reported in wild and domestic birds from June to September in Europe.
That’s according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which carried out a review of the disease situation alongside the European Centre for Disease Prevention (ECDC) and the EU reference laboratory.
The EFSA said today (Monday, October 3) that, in previous years, no cases or very few cases were detected during the summer period. The overall 2021-2022 bird flu season has produced the largest epidemic so far observed in Europe.
Between June 11 and September 9 this year, 788 virus detections were reported in 16 EU or European Economic Area (EEA) countries, and the UK. 56 of these were in poultry, 22 in other captive birds, and the remainder (711) in wild birds.
The virus reached sea breeding colonies on the north Atlantic coast, causing “massive mortality” the EFSA said, particularly in Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK.
From June to September, the number of outbreaks in domestic birds was more than five times higher compared to the same period the year before.
Guilhem de Seze, the head of risk assessment for the EFSA, said: “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 at higher risk of infection than previous years due to the observed persistence of the virus in Europe.”
The EFSA recommended the rapid implementation of suitable and sustainable 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 bird flu exposure.
The current bird flu season in Europe as a whole has seen 2,467 outbreaks in poultry and 47.5 million birds culled in affected establishments. In addition, 187 detection were notified in captive birds and 3,573 bird flu events were recorded in wild birds.
The geographical reach of this current epidemic is also considered unprecedented, with reported cases ranging from the Svalbard islands north of Norway, down to southern Portugal, and as far east as Ukraine, affecting 37 countries in total.
In autumn 2021, the the highly pathogenic bird flu virus crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, spreading from Europe to North America along migration routes and causing a severe epidemic in poultry in several Canadian provinces and US states, as well as causing mortality in wild birds.
The ECDC maintains that the risk of infection for humans in the EU and EEA remains low, or low to medium for those working in close proximity to birds.
However, the ECDC also says that there is a high level of uncertainty on human risk levels due to the diversity of different bird flu viruses in bird populations at present.
The risk of transmission to humans by exposure to contaminated poultry products is considered negligible.