UPDATE ON AVIAN INFLUENZA IN ANIMALS IN ASIA (TYPE H5)*

15 July 2005

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COUNTRIES HAVING INFORMED ON THE ABSENCE OF

HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA INFECTION

Immediate notification report

Information received on 8 and 12 July 2005 from Dr José Q. Molina, Director, Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Department of Agriculture, Quezon City:

Report date: 12 July 2005.

Precise identification of agent: low pathogenic H5 avian influenza virus. Samples were sent to the OIE Reference Laboratory for avian influenza at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia, for confirmation of the specific strain involved.

Date of first confirmation of the event: 7 July 2005.

Clinical disease: no.

Nature of diagnosis: laboratory.

Details of outbreak:

* 230 native ducks, 20 native chickens and 30 two-day-old chicks

Description of affected population: smallholder (backyard) farm. The infection was detected in ducks only, with no clinical signs of disease and no deaths.

Diagnosis: the infection in ducks was detected during routine testing using haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and was confirmed on 7 July 2005 using RT-PCR⁽¹⁾. All the chickens in the same farm tested negative to the HI test.

Control measures:

- all ducks and chickens in the affected farm were culled and the farm was cleaned and disinfected;

- a 3-km-radius quarantine zone was imposed around the affected farm, prohibiting movement of live poultry within, into and out of the zone;

- surveillance and testing of all poultry flocks in nearby areas are being maintained.

Other details/comments: no disease incidence or abnormally high mortality were reported in poultry in the area or in adjoining towns.

(1) RT-PCR: reverse transcriptase - polymerase chain reaction

(2) ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Note by the OIE Animal Health Information Department: Changes in the obligations of OIE Member Countries to notify avian influenza (“notifiable avian influenza”), as adopted during the 73rd OIE General Session in May 2005, will come into effect on 1 January 2006. The OIE Animal Health Information Department is publishing the above report because of the importance of monitoring the disease situation in South-East Asia.

HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA IN THAILAND
Follow-up report No. 60 (new outbreaks)

Information received on 9 July 2005 from Dr Yukol Limlamthong, Director General, Department of Livestock Development (DLD), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bangkok:

End of previous report period: 30 June 2005 (see Disease Information, 18 [26], 185, dated 1 July 2005).

End of this report period: 8 July 2005.

Date of first confirmation of the event: 23 January 2004.

Nature of diagnosis: clinical, post-mortem and laboratory.

Details of new outbreaks:

Description of affected populations in the new outbreaks: native poultry and fighting cocks in villages. The biosecurity is minimal.

Diagnosis:

Source of outbreaks or origin of infection: unknown or inconclusive.

Control measures undertaken:

- stamping out;

- quarantine;

- movement control inside the country;

- screening;

- zoning;

- disinfection of infected premises/establishments.

Treatment of affected animals: no.

Vaccination prohibited: yes.

Other details/comments: the case findings resulted from the second nationwide active surveillance campaign, being conducted from 1 to 31 July 2005. The purpose of this surveillance is to evaluate the present status of highly pathogenic avian influenza after the second wave of outbreaks (between 3 July 2004 and 12 April 2005)⁽¹⁾.

(1) The last outbreaks reported previously were published in Disease Information, 18 [16], 109, dated 22 April 2005.