WattAgNet: New avian flu cases in Mexico, Asia

Avian influenza continues to be a global problem for poultry industry

Avian influenza problems persist in Asian nations, while a new outbreak of the virus has been reported in Mexico.

Active surveillance reveals HPAI in Mexico
After a reported absence of almost one year, Mexico has recorded a new outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in its commercial poultry sector in the last week.

Official reports indicate Mexico had been free of HPAI since May of 2016, but the H7N3 virus was detected during active surveillance in a poultry flock of more than 151,000 birds in the state of Jalisco during the first week of May this year. According to the report from the national animal health agency to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the two-year-old birds showed no clinical signs of the disease.

New HPAI outbreaks in Vietnam
According to the ministry of agriculture and rural development’s latest reports to the OIE, there has been just one new outbreak of HPAI caused by the H5N1 virus. The affected backyard flock – numbering 5,000 birds - was located in the north-east coastal province of Quang Ninh. Around 2,000 birds died and the rest have been destroyed.

The ministry also belatedly reported five HPAI outbreaks in backyard poultry in February of this year. All located in Nghe An province in the north central coastal region, the flocks ranged in size from 72 to 4,400 birds. All 5,500 poultry died or were destroyed as a result of the disease.