Since 2020, global cases of avian influenza subtype H5N1 have been rising, with cases reported from every continent as of February 2023 except for Australia and Antarctica.[1][2][3][4] In late 2023, H5N1 was discovered in the Antarctic for the first time, raising fears of imminent spread throughout the region, potentially leading to a "catastrophic breeding failure" among animals that had not previously been exposed to avian influenza viruses.[5]

Timeline

Urner Barry Egg Index

2020

During 2020, reassortment, genetic "swapping" involving the swapping of DNA or RNA, between poultry and birds, led to the emergence of H5N1. The virus then spread across Europe, detected there in autumn, before spreading to Africa and Asia.[1]

2021

In May 2021, H5N1 was detected in wild red foxes in the Netherlands.[6] It was later detected in December in Estonia in wild foxes.[1][7]

2022

In January 2022, an infection in an eighty-year-old man was reported, who raised ducks in England.[1] Also in January, infections were reported from the United States in wild birds.[1] In February, infections were reported from commercial poultry centres in the U.S., and Peru reported infections in sea lions.[1][8] A human case of H5N1 was reported in the U.S. in April.[1][9] The virus continued to spread further, infecting additional species of mammals. In September, Spain reported a human case; this was followed by a second case, in a person who worked at the same poultry farm as the first.[1][10] In November, China reported a human case, infected due to contact with poultry. The case died from their infection.[1]

2023

Antarctic

H5N1 was first detected in the Antarctic region in October 2023, via a brown skua on Bird Island, near South Georgia. Within several months, hundreds of elephant seals were found dead, as well as fur seals, kelp gulls and further brown skua. The virus had potentially spread to the Antarctic mainland by the end of 2023.[11]

Arctic

In December 2023, conservation officials confirmed that a polar bear had died of H5N1 near Alaska's northernmost city, Utqiagvik.[11]

Cambodia

In February 2023, Cambodia reported the death of a girl due to H5N1 infection after developing symptoms on 16 February.[12][13] The girl's father also tested positive for the virus. The World Health Organisation described the situation as "worrying" and urged "heightened vigilance".[14][15][16] Further sequencing determined that at least one of the two cases was from an older H5N1 clade, 2.3.2.1c, which had circulated as a common H5N1 strain in Cambodia for many years, rather than the more recent clade 2.3.4.4b, which had caused mass poultry deaths since 2020. This older clade had jumped to humans in the past yet hadn't previously resulted in any known human-to-human transmission.[17]

On March 1, 2023, as Taiwan raised its travel alert for Cambodia, the WHO and the U.S. CDC, in concert with Cambodian authorities, determined that both of the individuals had been infected through direct contact with poultry.[18][19]

Southern Cone

In late February 2023, Argentina confirmed a case of H5N1 in industrial poultry, in the Rio Negro province. Avian product exports were suspended as a result.[20]

In March 2023, H5N1 was detected in black-necked swan populations in Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary, Chile and Uruguay.[21][22] In Uruguay the death of ten swans found in the locality of Estación Tapia was attributed to flu.[22] Previously in Uruguay ten hens had died because of the flu in El Monarca.[22]

In late March 2023, Chile detected H5N1 in a 53 year-old man who had severe symptoms.[23]

In September 2023, Uruguay reported upwards of 400 seals and sea lions found dead of H5N1 on the nation's Atlantic coastline and along the River Plate.[24]

Canada

On April 1 a domestic dog in Ottawa, Canada was tested positive for H5N1.[25]

Brazil

On May 22, Brazil declared an 180-day "animal health emergency" in response to eight cases of H5N1 found in wild birds. Although Brazil's major poultry-producing regions are in the country's south and the infections were found in Espirito Santo state and Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, as the world's largest exporter of chicken meat, created an emergency operations center to plan for and mitigate potential further spread of H5N1.[26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Highlights in the History of Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) Timeline – 2020-2023 | Avian Influenza (Flu)". www.cdc.gov. 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  2. ↑ "A global bird flu outbreak is now so bad, many countries are considering vaccination". ABC News. 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  3. ↑ Worden-Sapper, Emma; Sawyer, Sara; Wu, Sharon. "As bird flu continues to spread in the US and worldwide, what's the risk that it could start a human pandemic? 4 questions answered". The Conversation. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  4. ↑ Docter-Loeb, Hannah. "Vaccine Makers Are Preparing for Bird Flu". Scientific American. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  5. ↑ Weston, Phoebe (24 October 2023). "'Catastrophic': bird flu reaches Antarctic for the first time". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Rijks, Jolianne M.; Hesselink, Hanna; Lollinga, Pim; Wesselman, Renee; Prins, Pier; Weesendorp, Eefke; Engelsma, Marc; Heutink, Rene; Harders, Frank; Kik, Marja; Rozendaal, Harry; van den Kerkhof, Hans; Beerens, Nancy (November 2021). "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Wild Red Foxes, the Netherlands, 2021". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 27 (11): 2960–2962. doi:10.3201/eid2711.211281. ISSN 1080-6059. PMC 8544991. PMID 34670656.
  7. ↑ European Food Safety Authority, European Centre for Disease Prevention, Control, European Union Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza; Adlhoch C, Fusaro A, Gonzales JL, Kuiken T, Marangon S, Niqueux É, Staubach C, Terregino C, Aznar I, Muñoz Guajardo I, Baldinelli F. Avian influenza overview September - December 2021. EFSA J. 2021 Dec 23;19(12):e07108. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2021.7108. PMID 34987626; PMCID: PMC8698678.
  8. ↑ Collyns, Dan (2023-03-21). "First birds, now mammals: how H5N1 is killing thousands of sea lions in Peru". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  9. ↑ "CDC Newsroom". CDC. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  10. ↑ "Avian Influenza A (H5N1) – Spain". www.who.int. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  11. 1 2 Weston, Phoebe (2 January 2024). "Polar bear dies from bird flu as H5N1 spreads across globe". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  12. ↑ "Bird flu death: What will happen next and is there a vaccine?". New Scientist. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  13. ↑ "Bird flu: 11-year-old girl in Cambodia dies after being infected". The Guardian. 2023-02-24. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  14. ↑ Rigby, Jennifer (2023-02-24). "Bird flu situation 'worrying'; WHO working with Cambodia". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  15. ↑ "H5N1: Cambodian girl dies in rare bird flu case". BBC News. 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  16. ↑ "An 11-year-old girl has died from bird flu in Cambodia. Here's why the WHO is 'worried'". SBS News. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  17. ↑ "Viruses in Cambodian bird flu cases identified as endemic clade". Reuters. 26 February 2023. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  18. ↑ Strong, Matthew (1 March 2023). "Taiwan raises Cambodia travel alert after human H5N1 cases | Taiwan News | 2023-03-01 16:02:00". Taiwan News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  19. ↑ Cheang, Sopheng (1 March 2023). "Cambodia says recent bird flu cases not spread by humans". ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  20. ↑ "Argentina suspends poultry exports as first industrial case of bird flu confirmed". Reuters. 2023-03-01. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  21. ↑ Salgado, Daniela; López, Carlos (2023-03-25). "Influenza aviar: declaran emergencia zoosanitaria por contagio de cisnes de cuello negro en Valdivia". Radio Bío-Bío (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  22. 1 2 3 "En Uruguay siguen apareciendo casos de gripe aviar". Diario El Comercial (in Spanish). 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  23. ↑ "Chile detects first case of bird flu in a human". Reuters. 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  24. ↑ "Bird flu kills 400 seals, sea lions in Uruguay". phys.org. 30 September 2023. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  25. ↑ "Domestic dog tests positive for avian influenza in Canada". Government of Canada. 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  26. ↑ Mano, Ana (22 May 2023). "Brazil declares 180-day animal health emergency amid avian flu cases in wild birds". Reuters. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
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