Quarantined chicken farm near the city of Volgograd

Seven employees of a poultry farm in the south of the country fell ill in December. Those affected are fine, they have recovered.  The  disease was mild.

In the next few days, the disinfection work should be completed and new chickens should be bought in mid-April, it said.

 The re are three poultry farms in the region that specialize primarily in the production of eggs.

 The  vector research center in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk had proven that the employees were transmitted with the H5N8 virus.

“In the case of avian influenza viruses, there is always the possibility of a quick change in properties,” said a spokeswoman for the German press agency in Moscow on Sunday. In addition, with a high viral load, as in affected companies, it must be expected that there will be transmissions.

 The  Friedrich Loeffler Institute now wants to get more information on the cases in Russia, said the spokeswoman. She reminded of the applicable hygiene rules: dead wild birds should therefore not be touched with bare hands. If it does come into contact, hands should be washed thoroughly. If poultry farms affected are evacuated, protective clothing is worn.

Austria

Several outbreaks of bird flu have also been detected in animals in Austria.

 The  highest incidence and death rates are observed in chickens and turkeys. Avian flu occurs with different subtypes. Several had already known that people could be infected with it. Transmission via infected food is however unlikely.

 The  German Friedrich Loeffler Institute announced on Friday that the risk of the disease spreading further was still high.

According to the institute, the H5N8 virus has not yet been transmitted to humans. “With avian influenza viruses there is always the possibility of a quick change in properties,” said a spokeswoman on Sunday. In addition, with a high viral load, as in affected companies, it must be expected that there will be transmissions.

Different types

 The re are several subtypes of avian flu viruses, including the H5N1 virus, which can cause serious illness in humans.

 The  mortality rate is 60 percent.

 The  last major outbreak of avian influenza in European countries occurred in the winter of 2016/17.

 The  so-called avian influenza was first observed in Italy in 1878.

 The  pathogens occur worldwide, reports AGES. In Austria, the AGES national reference laboratory has been investigating an increasing number of wild birds found dead in recent weeks: On February 4, 2021, a swan found dead in Lower Austria (Klosterneuburg) was diagnosed with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI, serotype H5N8).

Further cases were confirmed on February 10: a swan in Vienna (H5N8) and two swans in southern Styria (H5N5).