Avian influenza, H5N8, rapidly spreading in Europe, what to do in case of avian influenza

Well, 2020 is now giving Europe the bird. Bird flu, that is.

According to a report by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), several European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, have already reported outbreaks since 16 October. avian influenza pathogenic viruses (HPAI). For example, as described by Patrick Barkham The Guardian, swans in Britain “go round and round and bleed their nostrils” and are dying. It is generally a bad sign to see someone spin around and unload something from their nose as well as bits of scones with laughter.

It is not unusual for avian flu viruses to circulate among the bird population. But “highly pathogenic” influenza viruses are a different story. “Highly pathogenic” is not the same as “highly friendly” or “highly likely not cause much trouble”. Merriam Webster defines “pathogen” as “causing or capable of causing disease”. Therefore, someone who tells you, “the date was fun, even if I found you highly pathogenic” probably means there will be no second date. Low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (LPAI) A tend to be relatively harmless, often causing no disease. If they cause disease, they are usually mild, with the risk of nothing but drops in egg production or some matted feathers. In this case, ruffled feathers are real ruffled feathers and not simply something figurative, such as a bird that is very angry at another bird for sleeping with a common bird friend. Conversely, HPAI viruses are much more likely to make birds very sick and even kill them.

As of November 19 at 12 noon, bird testing in Europe detected HPAI viruses 302 times. Most of these surveys, 281 of which, were performed on wild birds with the Barnacle Goose being the most common host, yielding 110 positive tests. In second place came the wild goose with 47, followed by the Eurasian wigeon, the mallard and the common buzzard. If you’re wondering what a Barnacle Goose looks like, here’s a photo of them:

The gray ones in the photo are ducks. They have nothing to do with Ryan Gosling, but rather they are young geese.

Not all positive tests were done among wild birds, as 18 were from poultry and three from captive birds. These HPAI viruses have appeared in multiple countries, the latest being Norway.

Officials found three different HPAI virus subtypes: A (H5N8), A (H5N5) and A (H5N1). In this case, “H” and “N” don’t stand for Harry Styles and Nutella, but instead stand for “hemagglutinin” and “neuraminidase”, two types of proteins found on the surface of influenza viruses. There are 16 different types of “H” proteins and nine different “N” proteins. This year, of the three HPAI viruses, by far the most common subtype was influenza A (H5N8) with 284 tests in Europe producing this subtype. All three of these virus subtypes appear to come from the same initial virus subtype and have emerged due to mutations.

It can be difficult to control the spread of HPAI viruses once they have infected enough wild birds. Wild birds do not tend to follow travel restrictions. Asking them to answer a bunch of questions at the airport won’t stop them from flying around. They usually don’t need to go to the airport unless they’re buying duty-free items. Therefore, it is highly likely that HPAI A (H5) viruses will continue to spread across Europe as wild waterfowl continue to migrate.

This has prompted some countries to take different measures. For example, the UK has declared an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ). This basically means that if you are a birdkeeper in the area, you should take several precautions to protect your birds. One is to make your location unattractive to wild birds. This doesn’t mean hanging bad artwork, posters of Baywatch, or photos of your exes on the walls or you forget to put hand soap in your bathroom. It means putting up nets, limiting access to possible food sources, and otherwise making it more difficult for wild birds to come into contact with your birds. Another precaution is to regularly clean and disinfect anything your birds can touch, such as walls and concrete areas. Also, clean and disinfect anything that could carry viruses to the area, such as shoes.

Of course, if you yourself are not a bird and do not own any birds, your first question may be whether humans can be infected with these HPAI A (H5) viruses. After all, humans tend to be quite human-centered. They don’t usually watch the news and wonder, “damn, how will it affect the birds?”

So far, the risk to humans appears to be low. No human has yet caught HPAI viruses. However, as the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has shown, viruses that previously did not infect humans may at some point mutate to do so. Therefore, if you see sick or dead birds, think of MC Hammer and think “I can’t touch him”. Stay away and, instead, contact the proper authorities. You don’t want to give the birds to anyone.