Category: Avian Influenza
‘Heart-breaking’ news as avian flu ravages seabird colonies at sites across Wales
WhalesOnline Avian flu has devastated seabird colonies at sites across Wales this summer, according to the National Trust. It said more than 7,000 seabirds had died of the disease at five of its sites across the UK in 2023. Only one of its sites was affected in 2022. In Wales, the worst-affected was in Anglesey where more […]
Sep 12, 2023
HPAI Influenza Devastating Birds, Marine Mammals in Peru–Study Identifies Concerning Viral Mutations
Press Herald NIAID-funded researchers working in Peru have signaled concern about the deaths of birds and marine mammals from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that has been spreading globally. Historically, South America’s coastal ecosystems and poultry industry have been spared from HPAI outbreaks. “These viruses are rapidly accruing mutations, including mutations of concern, that warrant further […]
Sep 12, 2023
CBP Reminds Travelers of Restrictions Relating to Avian Flu
Homeland Security Today U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is reminding the traveling public of the restrictions for avian commodities originating from or transiting Mexico including hunter harvested, non-fully finished avian trophies and meat. “We want to remind the traveling public that fresh eggs, raw chicken, and live birds or poultry continue to be prohibited […]
Sep 5, 2023
Airborne transmission of human-isolated avian H3N8 influenza virus between ferrets
Cell H3N8 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in China caused two confirmed human infections in 2022, followed by a fatal case reported in 2023. H3N8 viruses are widespread in chicken flocks; however, the zoonotic features of H3N8 viruses are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that H3N8 viruses were able to infect and replicate efficiently in organotypic […]
Sep 5, 2023
South Africa: Poultry industry faces mounting losses amid bird flu outbreaks
Farmer’s Weekly Dr Abongile Balarane, general manager of the Layer Organisation of SA Poultry, told Farmer’s Weekly that initial cases of the H5N1 strain of HPAI occurred among layers in the Western Cape in April. This strain is the same as the one currently affecting the majority of other countries in the world. In June, however, a […]
Sep 5, 2023
Accelerated evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in free-ranging white-tailed deer
Nature The zoonotic origin of the COVID-19 pandemic virus highlights the need to fill the vast gaps in our knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 ecology and evolution in non-human hosts. Here, we detected that SARS-CoV-2 was introduced from humans into white-tailed deer more than 30 times in Ohio, USA during November 2021-March 2022. Subsequently, deer-to-deer transmission persisted […]
Aug 29, 2023
Forbes Researchers have discovered dozens of white-tailed deer infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 in Ohio, suggesting that spillover of the virus between humans and animals is less rare than previously believed, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Communications—news that comes as doctors are tracking a new Covid-19 variant in humans. […]
Aug 29, 2023
Scottish professor claims there are “signals” of a new pandemic
National World “Signals” from bird flu suggest that the next global pandemic could arrive sooner than expected. Professor Devi Sridhar of Edinburgh University, who advised the Scottish government during the coronavirus outbreak, said action was needed to avoid a repeat of that, describing it as a “tragedy for lives lost but also the restrictions put in […]
Aug 29, 2023
Bird flu was found at a new fur farm, seagulls died of the disease in Mikkeli
Finland News (Machine Translated) Highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu has been found in a new fur farm in Kauhava. In total, bird flu has now been found in 25 fur farms in Ostrobothnia, more than half of which are from the same locality, Kausti. The same virus has been confirmed as the cause of death of the […]
Aug 22, 2023
Bird flu ‘ticking time bomb’ cannot be stopped without major farming reforms, warns new report
Farmers Review Africa The report – called Bird flu: Only major farm reforms can end it – shows that, contrary to popular belief, wild birds are typically victims of the disease rather than the cause, and it is spiralling out of control due to the rise of factory farming. This view is supported by the international Scientific Task Force […]
Aug 22, 2023