H5N2 and H5N8 viruses circulating in US; Asian H9N2 detected in Alaska - 1/4/15 (CIDRAP Article)
“The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses H5N2 and H5N8 are continuing to turn up in US birds, with the latest detections in Montana and California, while an Asian H9N2 virus was found in wild birds in western Alaska, according to recent reports. Researchers with the US Geological Survey reported that they found H9N2 viruses in two wild birds in Alaska that match strains from China and South Korea. The viruses were found in testing of samples from 2,924 wild birds at the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in western Alaska, the researchers reported on Mar 30 in Virology. A fecal sample from an emperor goose and a cloacal sample from a northern pintail duck, both collected in September 2011, yielded the isolates.
H5N1 virus detected in dead pelicans - Romania - 30/3/15 (OIE WAHIS Report)
The County Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Directorate (CSVFSD) of Tulcea was notified by the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration (ARBDD) about the identification of 64 carcasses of pelicans in an inhabited area, on Ceaplace island, Sinoe lake.The entire population of pelicans counted initially more than 250 birds, adults and young. Excluding the dead pelicans (found in different stages of putrefaction), no other birds were observed with clinical signs in the area. Also, in the area were observed other birds species, still unspecified. HPAI H5N1 was confirmed by PCR and virus isolation.
H5N1 virus detected in 2 dead pelicans - Bulgaria - 27/3/15 (Daily Mail Article)
Bulgaria's authorities said on Friday they had discovered the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus in two dead pelicans in a nature reserve in northeastern part of the Balkan country, close to neighbouring Romania. "Samples were taken from the two birds after 21 Dalmatian pelicans were found dead and both are positive," the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency said in a statement. The agency said it had imposed a 3 km protection zone around the outbreak, which included a nearby village with back-yard farms and a poultry farm, which however did not have stock at the moment.
H5N2 virus detected in wild Canada goose - Wyoming - 26/3/15 (CIDRAP Article)
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said today the H5N2 virus was found in a sick wild Canada goose in southeastern Wyoming's Laramie County. The H5N2 virus surfaced earlier this month in a backyard poultry flock in northeastern Kansas, which also lies in the Central flyway. Other H5N2 outbreaks have occurred this month on turkey farms in Minnesota, Missouri, and Arkansas, which are along the Mississippi flyway.