The UK government said on Tuesday that cases of bird flu had been confirmed in commercial poultry at premises in Yorkshire, hours after it increased the risk level of the disease from medium to high.
H5N1 influenza has now been detected in pigs. This was something virologists had been worrying about ever since this highly pathogenic strain of bird flu started its rapid global spread in 2020. But why were we worrying specifically about pigs? And does this case – detected on a farm in Oregon on October 29 – change anything?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon begin testing bulk raw milk across the country for bird flu, a significant expansion of the agency's efforts to stifle the rapid spread of the virus, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters.
Bird flu has been spreading fast among poultry in the European Union this season, raising concerns of a repeat of previous crises that led to the deaths of tens of millions of poultry in the bloc and fears that it could spread to humans.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture weakened an emergency order last spring designed to prevent the spread of bird flu among the nation's dairy cattle after pushback from state and industry officials, according to state and federal records seen by Reuters.
There are no active outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza among Canadian poultry farms, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said today.
The Australian government has committed A$95 million (C$87.2 million) to fight a virulent strain of bird flu wreaking havoc globally. With the arrival of millions of migratory birds this spring, there is an increased risk of a deadly strain arriving in Australia, known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1.
California is investigating five possible human cases of bird flu among dairy farm workers, in addition to the six cases previously confirmed in the state, the state health department said on Monday.
Australia and New Zealand are bracing for the arrival of a destructive bird flu strain by tightening biosecurity at farms, testing shore birds for disease, vaccinating vulnerable species and war-gaming response plans.