MADRID – According to the latest overview from the EFSA, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Union’s reference laboratory, an unprecedented number of detections of avian influenza (a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus) in wild and domestic birds were reported from June to September. Avian influenza also occurs in Spain, but is much less than in other countries. As of the end of September, 36 outbreaks have been reported in Spain. Spain is the only European country where two people have contracted avian influenza (H5N1) virus, both in Castilla-La Mancha.
France is the country most affected by bird flu, with 1,365 outbreaks recorded until the end of September, followed by Italy with 315 cases, and Hungary with 289 outbreaks. The Netherlands is on this list With 51 outbreaks while there were 36 in Spain And only 4 in Belgium.
The majority of avian influenza reports, according to the FSA, concern wild birds (710 reports) followed by poultry farms (56) and birds in captivity (22). The virus reached seabird breeding colonies on the North Atlantic coast and caused mass deaths, particularly in the Netherlands, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
The current season of bird flu It produced the largest epidemic in Europe, with a total outbreak of 2,467 cases in poultry and 47.7 million birds culled in affected establishments. In addition, 187 detections were reported in captive birds and 3,573 highly virulent avian influenza events were recorded in wild birds. The geographical spread of this year’s epidemic is unprecedented, with reported cases ranging from the Svalbard islands in Norway to southern Portugal, and far eastern Ukraine, affecting 37 European countries in total.
Low risk to humans
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) concluded that the risk of infection for the general population in Europe is low. For occupationally exposed persons, the risk is moderate. The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk of infection in humans through exposure to contaminated poultry products to be small.
However, Spain has the European scoop with two people They may have contracted the avian influenza virus, as confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Both cases concerned employees of a poultry farm in Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha. The first confirmation of the virus spreading to humans was in late September when a 27-year-old worker tested positive for H5N1. Recently, another person in the same poultry farm tested positive for avian influenza.
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