EU sounds alarm over dangerous infection

RT.com, 4 Oct, 2022 - 
EU nations are experiencing the largest detected epidemic of avian influenza (HPAI), a more dangerous variant of bird flu, a watchdog has warned on Monday.

The statement by the EU’s Food Safety Agency (EFSA) drew the public’s attention to a paper on influenza, which was published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The scientists reported “an unprecedentedly high level of HPAI virus detections in wild birds between June and August 2022.” Breeding colonies of seabirds along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean were hit particularly hard, with high mortality rates observed.

Outbreaks among poultry from June to September affected five times the number of premises, compared to the same period in 2021, the study said. 

Over this period, 1.9 million farm birds were culled, with the Netherlands and Germany accounting for 70% of the animals killed, according to the study. Over the entire 2021-2022 period of the epidemic, 47.7 million birds were culled, it added.