August 21, 2018

Russia hit by latest outbreak of H5N2 avian flu; European farms face risk

Russia has been hit by its latest outbreak of avian influenza, which is of the highly pathogenic H5N2 strain.

Since early June, several regions in western Russia have experienced 67 outbreaks of H5 avian flu. These include Orlov, Saratov, Kur, Smolensk, Samar, Rostov and Penzen.

The latest region to be hit is Kostromskaya in the northwestern part. Affected was a commercial farm that raises almost 500,000 birds.

If the source was wild birds, farms across northern Europe including the United Kingdom could be at risk based on their migratory paths, according to an assessment by the UK government, Poultry World reports.

According to the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the latest outbreak of H5N2 bird flu is overlapped by three migration flyways, which are the Central Asian, the West Asian and the East Atlantic.

The East Atlantic is this flyway that brings wild migratory waterfowl to the UK.