Avian influenza (bird flu)

At the time of writing, there have been two human cases of avian influenza in the USA, connected to dairy farming,  and the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant is asking if we are ready for a major outbreak of avian influenza in humans (in Dutch, and subscription needed).  

There are other posts on this blog about avian influenza, but from some time ago, so this is a more up to date list of suggested links.

The UK government's page on the latest situation in England, last updated on 26th April 2024, is a comprehensive page including links to information on how to spot avian influenza in birds, and a link to a page to get information on cases in animals in England (that page enables you as well to find details of any case of any notifiable disease in animals), and separate links to case information in the other home nations.

Direct links to government information in the other home nations are:

- Northern Ireland

- Scotland

- Wales - English, Cymraeg (ffliw adar)

Information from our geographical neighbours from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.

Information from the NHS (last updated in January 2022).

Click this link for PubMed results, sorted by date with most recent first.   The search is filtered to humans, which may lose the most recent references, so to remove the human filter, untick the human filter in the options on the left of the results.  You will then find reports of research in birds or animals as well.   If there are articles at the top of the list under a "Found by citation matching" heading, note they may not be very recent.

Avian influenza (bird flu)

My local park has notices up about an outbreak.  Here are sources of latest official information (for the UK).  Travel related information is at the end of the post. In addition to the sites below try your local authority's website.

Animal and Plant Health Agency reports relating to wild birds


DEFRA and APHA, preliminary outbreak assessment, for Europe, Russia and the UK - includes Weekly disease reports

DEFRA and APHA, guidance

Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Northern Ireland), Avian influenza


Health and Safety Executive, Avian influenza (PDF) (information particularly for those in occupations that might come into contact with the virus)

Health and Safety Executive, Working with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus

Health Protection Scotland, Avian influenza


Llywodraeth Cymru, Ffliw adar - gweler isod am fersiwn Saesneg, "Welsh Government"


NHS - Includes information on symptoms in humans, but also on how to report cases in animals.


Public Health England, Guidance, data and analysis - includes information on diagnosis (in humans and in birds) and epidemiological information. 


RSPB, Avian influenza updates


Scottish Government, How to spot and report the disease


UK Health Security Agency, guidance for managing human cases


Welsh Government, Avian influenza  See above for Welsh language edition, Llywodraeth Cymru.

Travel health and advice

Fit for Travel, Avian influenza

Travel Health Pro (NaTHNaC), Avian influenza

UK Health Security Agency, advice if travelling to China at Lunar New Year 

Avian influenza (H5N8)

A reminder that other infectious diseases carry on, with news reports of outbreaks of H5N8 avian influenza in wild birds and on farms, in the UK and elsewhere.

Many avian influenza sites have yet to be updated, but here are some that are up to date:

UK government advice(Defra)  on avian influenza, with updates on the latest situation.

A flu diary - blog kept by Michael Coston.   There is a post from yesterday describing an outbreak in North Yorkshire, and one from the 11th November about other cases, so scan the posts.

World Health Organization's page on avian influenza (seems to include a small amount of material about H5N8)

OIE: World Organisation for Animal Health: Avian influenza portal - regular updates, the latest of which (November 2020) certainly discusses H5N8.

Wageningen University and Research - Avian influenza  - includes a map of recent cases in the Netherlands (ook in Nederlands)

Sites from the NHS, Health and Safety Executive, NHS Scotland, FitForTravel have yet to be updated.

Updates

A long time has passed since the last post, longer than ought to happen on a blog, but here goes...

Translators without Borders has funding to extend a project to produce Ebola information in local languages, to more west African languages.  Thanks to the excellent HIFA2015 list for this information.

Avian influenza in the Netherlands - De Volkskrant reported yesterday cases in Niedersachsen, Germany, which borders the Netherlands.  It is H5N8.   The Dutch government is maintaining its English language page, which seems not to have any new cases in the country, but which has added information about adjusted government measures.

Avian influenza (Vogelgriep)

Just discovered this official Dutch government site, in (of course) Dutch, which has a complete record of the affected sites in the Netherlands,  (go to Overzicht or Inhoud, then Locaties vogelgriep), as well as news and links to official publications.  As well as sites where the virus has been found, it also lists places that have been investigated but nothing found, so not every place listed has had the virus.

I can find nothing new about avian influenza in the UK.  The UK government site about the discovery of the virus in Yorkshire was updated today (3rd December) but that seems to be relating to rules about transport of eggs.

Avian influenza in the Netherlands - new case in Zouterwoude

I get daily emails from Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.  So De Volkskrant is the first place that I saw reports of another outbreak of avian influenza in the Netherlands.  The outbreak is in Zoeterwoude (South Holland, south of Leiden),   Exactly which strain of the virus it is is not yet known, with results expected tomorrow (Monday).

Read the article (in Dutch).

The article mentions (if my Dutch is ok!) that this is the fifth case, with five businesses affected, but names only four places  - Hekendorp, Ter Aar, Kamperveen and now Zouterwoude.  The NOS says that there were two businesses affected in Kamperveen, which makes everything add up.

There are English language reports of the Zouterwoude outbreak:  the Guardian and the Dutch government - in English here.  And the Avian Flu Diary blog also has a piece.

Added 2nd December - De Volkskrant reports that the strain found in Zouterwoede is H5N8 (introductory paragraph), something confirmed in the English language news site of the Dutch government.

Avian influenza and Ebola update

Avian influenza has been found at a second and third location in the Netherlands:

The second is in Ter Aar - Guardian
The third is in Kamperveen, confirmed as H5N8 - De Volkskrant (in Dutch)

De Volkskrant is also reporting a new case of Ebola in Mali, and has a graphic showing the present situation.  The captions are of course in Dutch, and English language alternatives for current statistics are CDC and WHO.  The CDC site has a graphic on the right.

More about avian influenza

The UK government has updated its advice (adding an interactive map so you can see if you are in a restriction zone - the information at the end of the page will tell you what has changed).

There is also an official news item about the incident (with a link at the end to the DEFRA announcement).

Most newspapers and news sources look to be covering the story today, but these look worth mentioning:

British Veterinary Association and British Veterinary Poultry Association
National Farmers' Union
WebMD

NHS Choices has information about avian flu (although nothing has been added yet in the light of the incident in East Yorkshire).

Note added at 1842 - the BBC is reporting that the strain found on the farm in Nafferton, East Yorkshire is H5N8, the same one found in other outbreaks in Europe.

In addition to ProMedMail and HealthMap (see yesterday's post), for news, try CIDRAP.

Avian influenza in East Yorkshire

I imagine this post will get a lot of editing!   I will put new information (added since I first posted) in bold.   Last updated at 1822 on 17th November 2014.

According to the BBC, a duck farm in East Yorkshire has had a confirmed case of bird flu.  At the time of writing, the BBC are reporting that it is not H5N1, but not what it is.  BBC World News this morning (Monday, as shown on BBC2) was reporting that there is a current outbreak in Hekendorp in the Netherlands.

The government has updated its avian influenza advice today (17th November).

This next paragraph is dependent on my Dutch being good, but Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant is reporting that H5N8 is the type involved in the Hekendorp outbreak, dangerous to people if they are in prolonged contact with infected animals.  De Volkskrant is not confirming which type has been found in Yorkshire (see http://www.volkskrant.nl/leven/ook-groot-brittannie-getroffen-door-vogelgriep~a3791972/) .  NOS is also reporting that the Dutch outbreak is H5N8.  The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs have a news release (entirely reasonably in Dutch) with links to further official documents.

DEFRA is reporting this strain in turkeys in Germany.  So is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, with some discussion of how it arrived there, and a current outbreak in the Republic of Korea.

ProMedMail is reporting the Dutch outbreak but not yet the Yorkshire one.

HealthMap is reporting both.   Click the arrow next to the number of outbreaks for all diseases and you can choose Avian Influenza (you can also choose a specific type).

Stockpiling influenza vaccine

Today's BMJ reports a recent meeting at the WHO, which backed calls for vaccine effective against H5N1 influenza to be stockpiled. The meeting also discussed access to the vaccine.

Report into Suffolk bird flu outbreak

Defra and other agencies have published reports into the outbreak earlier this year of avian influenza at the Bernard Matthews turkey farm/factory in Holton, Suffolk.

There is a Defra press release, detailing what has been published, namely a Defra epidemiological report, and a joint final report by the Food Standards Agency and others.

There is another Defra press release about their epidemiological report, which links to the epidemiological report itself.

There is an FSA press release about their investigation. I cannot immediately find this final FSA and other agencies report.