Spain confirms bird flu outbreak

18,900 birds were culled to stop the spread of the disease. Europe is facing an epidemic of bird flu that is no longer seasonal, experts warn.

Spain has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus on a farm north of Madrid, the World Organization for Animal HEALTH (OIE) said this week. The outbreak began on January 13 at a farm with 18,900 birds in the village of Cantalejo, the OIE said, citing a report from the Spanish authorities. “The epidemiological survey conducted on the farm indicates that all the birds were brought to the farm for fattening in early November 2021, since then there have been no movements of animals outside the farm,” the report says. A quarantine zone has been established around the outbreak.

According to the German Institute for Animal Health Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) observed in Europe over the past two years is no longer seasonal, and this fact is confirmed by the ongoing outbreaks reported in countries such as RUSSIA , Ukraine, Poland and others. The current wave began in October 2021 and has already affected 30 countries in the region. German experts have also warned that the end of the bird flu epidemic is not yet in sight. Prior to the outbreak reported by Spain, the situation in the EU is illustrated on the map below.

A total of 2.5 million birds need to be culled in France as several outbreaks of bird flu have occurred in the southwest of the country. Some 1.2 million birds have already been slaughtered and another 1.3 million need to be culled as a precaution to fight the virus, according to the French Ministry of Agriculture.

The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Asia and Europe has raised concerns among governments and poultry farmers after previous outbreaks led to the culling of tens of millions of birds and trade restrictions.