Outbreaks of avian influenza in Asia

The widespread outbreak of bird flu, commonly referred to as avian influenza, has alerted the poultry industry in recent days in Europe and Asia following the widespread outbreak of the virus among tens of millions of birds.
 Epidemiologists pay special attention to the virus because it is transmitted from birds to humans.  Influenza outbreaks also lead to trade restrictions.
 China has so far reported 21 cases of human H5H8 virus in recent days, which is much more than in 2020 as a whole.
 Although the current statistics are much lower than the H7N9 flu in 2017, the severity of the infection is very high and the patients are in a very bad condition and at least 6 people have lost their lives in this regard.  The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on October 4 that it had found that most infected people were exposed to direct contact with birds, and that no evidence of human-to-human transmission had been found.  China is the largest producer of poultry products.
 According to the World Organization for Animal Health, South Korea also reported about 770,000 infected birds on a farm in Chongqing, which has been confirmed by the authorities.  All infected birds were beheaded.
 The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture also confirmed the first outbreak of bird flu in 2021 on a farm in the northeast of the country.  The Japanese type of virus is H5H8.
 Following the detection of the virus in birds, about 143,000 eggs were destroyed on a farm in the town of Yukot in Akita Prefecture, and quarantine areas up to 10 km away were established.  Japan has temporarily suspended exports of poultry and egg products from all regions.
 Although bird flu is not transmitted through food, it has become a concern for epidemiologists due to the growing number of cases in China, especially now that the world is recovering from a coronavirus outbreak.
 In Europe, Norway also reported an outbreak of the H5H8 strain of the bird flu virus in the Rogaland region of 7,000 birds.  The Belgian government also raised the alert for the virus after detecting the virus in a wild goose near Antwerp in the country and ordered the keeping of birds indoors.  Similar decisions were made in France earlier this month and in the Netherlands in October.
 Avian influenza is common in the fall and is spread by migratory birds.  The disease is not transmitted by eating poultry products and meat.

_{Source & credit: AVC father's heart - OIE - WHO}

^{Photo by CDC on Unsplash}