Avian influenza - a devastating pandemic for birds and a threat for global health?

This press briefing was held on February 10, 2023.
The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) has been causing outbreaks in wild birds and farmed poultry for decades. In Central Europe, HPAI was usually only detected during the winter months. In 2022, this has changed, and the bird flu also caused infections during summer, leading to the largest epidemic in Europe so far that is ongoing and is affecting animals in 37 countries. Thousands of farmed and wild birds were infected. Seabird colonies in particular have been hit and massively decimated. In poultry farms 50 million birds died or had to be culled.
Even though HPAI is highly specific to birds, several spill-over events were documented in mammals. In rare cases the virus was also transmitted to humans, highlighting the zoonotic potential of the disease.
In October 2022, an HPAI-outbreak at a mink farm in the Galicia region in northwest Spain received major public interest because within a few weeks, the virus spread over the whole premises. The finding indicates a transmission of the virus from mink to mink which would be the first observed transmission between mammals.
Bringing together three experts on HPAI from Spain, the UK and Germany, we would like to discuss the current HPAI pandemic. Why has it become a pandemic? How detrimental is the impact on wild bird populations? Are there any measurements available to curb further spread? What is the potential of vaccination and where should it be applied? How big is the risk that HPAI could spill over to humans and become the next pandemic?
Background information can be found here in German: www.sciencemed...
and here in English: www.sciencemed...
Experts in the virtual press briefing:
Ursula Höfle, Ph.D.
Contract professor at the SaBio (Health and Biotechnology) Research Group, National Game and Wildlife Research Institute (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Prof. Ian H. Brown
Head of Virology at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Weybridge, Surrey, UK
Prof. Martin Beer
Head of the Institute for Diagnostic Virology (IVD), Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
[00:00:00] Welcoming
[00:03:25] Overview of the current zoonotic event & difference to former epidemics of avian flu
[00:06:32] Are there tools or measurements to contain the spread?
[00:08:36] What is known about the spillover of the virus to a mink farm?
[00:12:48] Was the transmission at the mink farm an isolated event?
[00:14:31] Assessment of zoonotic events in Peru & the Caspian Sea
[00:19:37] How does the new mutations in clade 2.3.4.4b influence the fitness of the virus?
[00:20:42] Is it likely that the virus spreads further? Which species are in danger?
[00:25:57] What is a low pass virus?
[00:26:54] Have there been historic examples of such a widespread zoonotic disease?
[00:30:15] What is a barrier that keeps humans being infected by this virus?
[00:32:45] Why is the WHO warning of a potential H5N1 human bird pandemic?
[00:34:40] Is the surveillance in terms of genomics good enough?
[00:37:35] How high is the mortality in birds? Which bird species are of special concern?
[00:40:14] What is the role of vaccinations in poultry farming?
[00:43:56] Can infected poultry, that seem to be healthy, transmit the virus to wild birds again?
[00:45:16] Would it be wise to close mink farms in general?
[00:47:47] Final question: Which aspect of the avian flu strains concerns you the most?
[00:53:48] Goodbye