H5N8 - Bird flu worries spread in Europe

[dothedd]

Bird flu worries spread in Europe 

updated 9:22 AM EST, Mon November 24, 2014

(CNN) -- Europeans are worried about a possible continent-wide bird flu epidemic after a wild duck tested positive for the H5N8 virus in northeast Germany, authorities said.

The virus was first discovered earlier this month in domesticated birds at a turkey farm in Germany with subsequent outbreaks on poultry farms in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Authorities say that the first wild bird case strengthens the suspicion that the source of the European outbreak lies in the wild bird population.
"We must now talk about a Europe-wide epidemic," said Till Backhaus, the agriculture minister of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the wild bird was found.

He ordered all poultry farmers in his state to keep their animals inside enclosures and away from wild birds.

This month over 200,000 ducks, turkeys and chickens were killed in Europe to control the outbreak, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. Once the virus is discovered in select birds, the entire flock must be destroyed, according to health officials.

There have been no human cases of H5N8 reported, according to the World Health Organization, but the agency said other avian flu strains have infected humans in the past. The H5N8 strain in Europe "appears to be highly pathogenic," meaning that it is highly likely to cause disease and death in poultry.

It's not known how the virus reached Europe, but the WHO said surveillance zones have been put in place around affected farms to prevent the spread of the disease.

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

I posted about this on the avian flu thread. I guess it warranted a new thread.. There have been a few reports of a danger to the food supply in Europe. Also 15k wild birds have been found dead in India. Without a doubt it's in migrating birds in a big way now..

[dothedd]

Thank you, Aham .... 

Hopefully, I will be back to the board on a more routine schedule.


b

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

I know you're busy healing b, no worries.

More migration as Avian flu detected at 2 Fraser Valley poultry farms

And...

Egyptian man dies of H5N1 virus

On Monday, the ministry said three people had died in the last week.

[dothedd]

So much for "HEALING" ....  This "ordeal" has turned into a NIGHTMARE!  

After the first of the year ... if I am still experiencing as much pain as I am now it will be time for "several"medical opinions! 
I can hardly believe that CHRISTMAS is 3 weeks away!     

[dothedd]

H5N8 virus surfaces on California turkey farm 

 CIDRAP News | Jan 26, 2015

The highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza virus has been found on a California turkey farm, marking its first incursion into US commercial poultry after several recent appearances in wild birds and at least one backyard poultry flock in western states. 

The virus was found in turkeys from a ranch in Stanislaus County in California's Central Valley, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Jan 24. "This is the first finding of HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] in commercial poultry during the ongoing disease incident in the Pacific Flyway," the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said. 

The agency added that no human cases have been reported anywhere to date and there is no threat to public health. 

Virus detected via surveillance 

The turkey farm is a Foster Farms facility. In a statement, the company said it detected the virus through its ongoing avian flu surveillance, adding that it has stepped up its poultry biosecurity measures in response to recent discoveries of H5N8 and H5N2 viruses along the Pacific Flyway. 

APHIS said the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has quarantined the ranch and that federal and state officials would humanely destroy the remaining turkeys there to keep the virus from spreading further. 

The USDA said the turkey flock had increased mortality, which prompted testing by the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS). The H5N8 finding was later confirmed by APHIS's National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. 

The USDA did not say how many turkeys the ranch housed or how many were sick or died. But Bill Mattos, president of the Modesto-based California Poultry Federation, estimated that the incident could affect up to 200,000 birds in the area, according to a Jan 24 story in the Modesto Bee, a newspaper in Stanislaus County. 

The National turkey Federation, in a brief statement acknowledging the finding, stressed that the virus does not pose a danger to the public. 

The California finding comes after a string of recent H5N8 detections that began Dec 16, when the virus was found in a captive gyrfalcon in northwestern Washington state. The virus was found in a backyard poultry flock in the southwestern Oregon town of Winston on Dec 19. 

Next the virus turned up in a gadwall duck in northern California in early January, and on Jan 13 it was reported in an American widgeon duck in north-central Utah's Davis County. 

H5N8 was blamed for widespread outbreaks in South Korea in early 2014, and it found its way into commercial poultry in several European countries in November and December. In addition, farms in Taiwan have been battling the virus this month.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2015/01/h5n8-virus-surfaces-california-turkey-farm