(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The rapid spread of bird flu in Europe, with the highest number of countries in at least a decade reporting early outbreaks, has raised concerns about a repeat of past crises that led to the culling of tens of million birds and higher food prices. The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is a concern for governments and the poultry industry due to the devastation it can cause to flocks, the possibility of trade restrictions and a risk of a new pandemic.
The virulent strain of H5N1 bird flu has spread through wild bird and mammal populations since 2021, killing millions, infecting poultry and dairy farms and even some farmworkers. The disease, mainly spread by migrating wild birds, caused 56 outbreaks in 10 EU countries and Britain this year from August to mid-October, mostly in Poland - the top EU poultry producer - Spain and Germany, France's animal health surveillance body ESA said.
This is the first time it has spread to 10 countries this early in the season for at least a decade, although the total number of outbreaks remains lower than in 2022 when the bloc recorded its worst ever bird flu crisis. Last year there were 31 outbreaks in nine countries during the same period. Since ESA's latest report, Belgium and Slovakia reported their first bird flu cases of the season, the World Organisation for Animal Health said last Wednesday, which prompted Belgium to order that all poultry be kept indoors.
Two other outbreaks also emerged in France, another major poultry producer, the farm ministry said on Tuesday as it ordered that birds be confined, citing rising outbreaks in Spain and Germany. Last year the order came in November and in December the year before.
The risk of bird flu for humans remains low, with most people infected having been in close contact with infected animals, but the virus needs to be monitored as it increasingly spreads to mammals, the World Health Organisation said. France has begun its third annual bird flu vaccination campaign for farm ducks, making it the first major poultry exporter to do so nationwide. It has credited the policy with curbing the disease. Bird flu has also hit the US and Asia. Over 180mn birds were culled in the US, affecting egg prices and infecting dairy cows and people. Brazil, the world's largest poultry exporter, faced an outbreak but is now free of bird flu. Japan reported its first case of the season last week.
Bird flu is spreading quickly across Germany, authorities warned on Friday, with birds on farms and in the wild both affected by the outbreak. There had been a“very rapid increase in infections” over the past two weeks, German Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer said at a public briefing. Germany's national animal disease research centre, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), warned of a“high” risk of further outbreaks.
In a related development, Australian scientists found hundreds of dead seal pups on Heard Island in the sub-Antarctic with signs that suggest they were killed by a destructive bird flu that has swept most of the planet, authorities said on Friday. Since the virus has already been found on the nearby French Kerguelen and Crozet islands, symptoms consistent with H5 bird flu in wildlife on Heard Island was not unexpected, the ministry added.
Off the migration routes of big birds such as geese that spread infection, Australia is the only continent free of the highly contagious virus. But further spread through Antarctica could eventually raise the risk of infection from the south. Heard Island would be the farthest the flu has reached in the Antarctic since arriving from South America in 2023.

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