Health authorities in Spain have sounded the alarm after an employee from a poultry farm was infected by a strain of bird flu late last month. This marks a rare case where the virus, which can decimate poultry stocks, was transmitted to humans. The worker remained asymptomatic until he was tested negative, and had no other known infections, Spain’s health ministry said. Officials noted that as of Monday, 79 outbreaks of avian flu have been detected in wild birds and 36 in poultry farm. The infected person worked at a poultry farm in Guadalajara, Spain, where cases of the disease were first detected among bird on 17 September,
After being detected to carry the virus, the employee was placed in isolation at his home, where he stayed until he tested negative on 28 September.
According to a statement from Spain’s Health Ministry, the man’s close contacts had tested negative, which they said highlighted the fact that “transmission from birds to humans is considered a rare phenomenon and human-to-human transmission is extremely infrequent.”
The outbreak was first detected when the managers of the flock noticed an abnormal increase in mortality on 8 September in one of the caged houses. Following the detection of the outbreak, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture had to order the culling of the farm’s 601,000 laying hens.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the farm poultry most likely came into contact with the influenza virus through wild birds, where the circulation of this virus has remained high throughout the summer, despite high temperatures.
Cases of bird flu have been spreading across Europe, with Guilhem de Seze, head of risk assessment at the European Food Safety Authority, telling the Guardian: “As autumn migration begins and the number of wild birds wintering in Europe increases, they are likely at higher risk of HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] infection than previous years due to the observed persistence of the virus in Europe.’
Even in the UK, the cases have surged, with the National Farmers’ Union warning that supplies of Christmas turkey could be tight this winter amid concerns that the UK’s extremely severe outbreak of bird flu continues to spread.
In what has been described as the worst outbreak in the country’s history, the avian flu has been detected at 155 sites across Britain, resulting in the culling of over three million birds so far.
Although the infection has mostly affected wild birds, there is increasing concern among poultry farmers who fear that their livestock may be at risk, warning that their turkeys may not survive, threatening to turn Christmas cheer into misery.
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James Mottershead, chairman of the NFU Poultry Board, told Sky News: “It is a risk. If bird flu, for example, gets into turkeys that could cause holy carnage; that could cause real supply chain issues in the run-up to Christmas time. The realities of it are quite severe.
“I do know of some instances where seasonal turkey producers have been affected by this, so far, this year. If you have an outbreak on your farm and your farm is classed as an infected premises, it is serious – you could be out of production up for up to 12 months.”
Now, Avian Influenza Prevention Zones have been set up in Norfolk, Suffolk, parts of Essex and all over southwest England. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) chose to extend the number of prevention zones on September 27 following a swathe of cases.
The UK’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Christine Middlemiss, has explained that the skyrocketing cases in wild birds is also resulting in a surging number of infections on commercial farms.
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While cases of human transmission have remained extremely rare, early this year, the world was sent on high alert after 19 cases of human infection were detected in China earlier this year.
H5N6, which causes severe illness in humans of all ages, has killed almost half of those infected with it, according to the WHO.
Thijs Kuiken, a professor at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, was alarmed by the rising number of cases, warning: “It could be that this variant is a little more infectious (to people) … or there could be more of this virus in poultry at the moment and that’s why more people are getting infected.”
The NHS states: “Bird flu is spread by close contact with an infected bird (dead or alive).” This includes touching infected birds, their droppings or beddings, and can also occur as a result of killing or preparing the infected poultry for cooking.
The NHS adds: “Markets, where live birds are sold, can also be a source of bird flu. You can’t catch bird flu through eating fully cooked poultry or eggs, even in areas with an outbreak of bird flu.”
