Avian influenza confirmed on Russian poultry farm


 
A farm in Russia which holds nearly half a million birds has been tested positive for bird flu.
The commercial farm, in the Kostromskaya region of north west Russia, is the latest in a series of outbreaks in Russia.
The outbreak of H5N2 highly-pathogenic avian influenza is overlapped by three migration flyways – the Central Asian, the West Asian and the East Atlantic.
It is this flyway which also brings wild migratory waterfowl to the UK.
The virus is confirmed as the Asian lineage (clade 2.3.4.4) which is the clade of H5 HPAI viruses which has been detected in multiple wild bird and poultry cases across Asia, Africa and Europe since 2014.
No human cases have been associated with infection with this virus.
As the UK is approaching the autumn migration season, the risk of infection to poultry in the UK will start to increase.
Overall, it is considered that the risk of further outbreaks of H5N6 in wild birds in the UK is “low”.
However, it is recommend that all poultry keepers, regardless of the number of birds per flock, familiarise themselves with government guidance on good biosecurity and how to report suspicion of disease appropriately.