“Highly pathogenic” outbreak in France, preventive measures in England and a serious case in the United States: the worrying avian flu

A new outbreak of avian flu has been detected “in a domestic poultry farm” in La Poterie-Mathieu (Eure), according to a prefectural decree published on Saturday, less than ten days after the lowering of the national risk level. France had just regained its status “unharmed” of avian flu – that is to say that no new outbreak had been declared for a month – the week later the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Wednesday, December 18.

The level of risk linked to avian flu in mainland France had already been raised to ” pupil “ in November, which implied, for example, the obligation to shelter animals in certain cases. The status “unharmed”which lifts these obligations, “opens up more favorable prospects for our sectors”the Ministry of Agriculture then indicated in a press release.

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But the outbreak of avian influenza detected this Friday is “highly pathogenic” and requires “immediate eradication measures” poultry concerned, according to the decree which also placed eight nearby municipalities in “protection zone”.

France is not the only country affected by the virus.

Preventive measures in England

Poultry farms on the east coast of England had to apply preventive measures against bird flu on Monday after the detection of new cases as part of a new epidemic wave.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced that new cases of bird flu have been detected in Norfolk, the east of England, east Yorkshire, and the north -east of England over the past week.

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On Monday, DEFRA decided to cull “preventative” birds and impose a three-kilometer protective perimeter on a farm in Norfolk following reports of suspected highly pathogenic avian flu. A regional prevention zone has been set up in the east of England, including Lincolnshire and Suffolk.

Starting Monday, poultry owners in this area will have to keep their birds indoors to protect them from the spread of the virus. The assessed risk of avian influenza in wild birds has been increased to “very high” in Britain, which means that it “is almost certain”. The risk was assessed at between ” AVERAGE “ et ” pupil “ in poultry.

So far, eleven cases of contamination with the H5N1 virus and one case with the H5N5 virus have been recorded in England during the current epidemic wave.

A serious case in the United States

While in the United States, the detection of a first serious case of avian flu in humans as well as new contaminations in felines has raised concerns about the spread of the H5N1 virus. Experts, however, refuse to give in to panic.

American health authorities announced on December 18 that an elderly patient suffering from other pathologies was hospitalized in “a critical state” in Louisiana after contracting bird flu, a first in the country. According to sequencing released Thursday, a small part of the H5N1 virus found in this patient's throat has genetic modifications that could make it more adapted to the human upper respiratory tract (from the nose to the larynx).

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These mutations have “probably generated during virus replication in the patient”indicated the American Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). “RNA viruses are known to mutate inside their hosts, and these mutations are of course worrying”reacted to AFP Rebecca Christofferson, researcher at Louisiana State University. But “The good news is that there does not appear to be any evidence to suggest that the virus has become more transmissible, as no other cases have been associated with this one”she tempered.