The new H5N8 avian influenza confirmed in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain “poses a significant threat to the poultry sector, especially in low-resourced counties situated along the Black Sea and East Atlantic migratory routes for wild birds”, said two international groups, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health, known by its French abbreviation OIE. The H5N8 strain was reported earlier this year in China, Japan and South Korea. FAO and OIE said wild birds may have played a role in the rapid spread of the highly pathogenic virus.
“Should poultry systems with low-biosecurity conditions become infected in countries with limited veterinary preparedness, the virus could spread through farms with devastating effects, both on vulnerable livelihoods as well as on country economies and trade,” said FAO and OIE in a statement. The new strain has not caused any human illnesses but it is related to a strain, H5N1, that killed nearly 400 people and millions of poultry since 2005-06.