According to information from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), about 5,300 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus have been reported in captive and wild poultry in 36 EU countries/European Economic Area Aerospace and the UK during the 2021-2022 pandemic season, according to the latest HPAI overview from the EFSA. This is the largest number of cases of the disease in an epidemic season ever reported. The persistence of highly virulent avian influenza (H5) virus in wild birds suggests that it may be endemic in wild bird populations in Europe.
An outbreak of 2,398 cases among poultry led to the culling of 46 million birds in the affected establishments. More than half of the bird outbreaks in Europe were due to secondary spread from infected birds to other farms. In addition, 168 outbreaks were detected in captive birds, and 2733 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza were detected in wild birds in 36 European countries. The current 2021-2022 IAAP pandemic season is still ongoing, with cases reported in poultry and wild birds through June 2022.
source:
Financial Supervisory Authority
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