Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 2/22/17


The ongoing spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) continues to take its toll in France and two Asian nations as new incarnations of the virus continue to pop up.

In France, the agriculture ministry said all 600,000 ducks in a prime region for the production of foie gras will be culled after other measures failed to halt the spread of the H5N8 virus, according to several news reports, including ABC News. The faster-than-expected spread of HPAI prompted officials to step up biosecurity measures regarding the transport of poultry. The virus had already been confirmed at more than 300 farms in France since the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, officials in Vietnam say that nation is on high alert, adding that the current outbreaks of the H5N6 and H5N1 strains have resulted in the culling of nearly 6,000 chickens four months after they thought the outbreak had been contained. Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has ordered provinces and cities to urgently take “appropriate measures” to stop the potential spread of H7N9, which has caused more than 100 human deaths in China, according to a report in The Nation.

Finally, Chinese officials confirmed a new variant of the H7N9 virus was confirmed in southern China. Two new human cases involved people who had been exposed to poultry before contracting the virus, according to the Sixth Tone news agency. China’s National Center for Viral Disease Control and Prevention has informed the World Health Organization (WHO) that the H7N9 strain is prone to “gene reassignment and mutation” that apparently could affect humans as well as birds. Officials in China said 192 human cases of HPAI infection were confirmed in January alone.

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