The current outbreak of bird flu cases, affecting high numbers of wild birds and poultry farms across Europe and North America, is happening at an unusually early stage. It raises concerns about a repeat of previous crises that led to mass culling and food price spikes, says Reuters.
This highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as bird flu, has resulted in the culling of hundreds of millions of farmed birds in recent years, causing food supplies to be disrupted and driving up prices, while human infections have been rare.
Whereas outbreaks usually peak in northern hemisphere autumn when migratory birds fly south, this year they appeared earlier and in greater numbers across Europe and the United States, hitting both wild birds and poultry.
More Outbreaks Than Previous Seasons
The United States reported 107 outbreaks as of Nov. 18, nearly four times the total from a year ago. Minnesota — the country’s largest turkey-producing state — confirmed its first case two months earlier than it had in 2022.
“It’s certainly more than we’ve seen over the last few winter-fall migratory bird seasons,” said Tim Boring, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Michigan, another large turkey state.
“I think it’s part of this ongoing pattern. We’re still well within this current outbreak that’s lasted several years now,” he said.
The U.S. has already culled about 8 million birds since September, a slight increase from the year before, according to government data.
Neighbouring Canada, with a smaller poultry flock than the U.S., has culled nearly 8 million birds. Canadian Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said the situation was getting “very worrisome.”
“Wild birds seem to be carrying more of this disease. So it’s scary in some ways,” he told Reuters.
The World Organisation for Animal Health said early outbreaks were a concern but not alarming.
“There should not be a public health alarm. An increase in the number of cases could have different explanations. What we need to observe is the actual virus itself,” said Gregorio Torres, head of WOAH’s scientific department.
Different Wild Birds Affected
In Europe, the situation was also worse compared to last year; Germany has recorded the highest number of outbreaks in three years.
Between early September and mid-November, 1,443 cases of bird flu were detected in wild birds in 26 European countries — a fourfold increase compared with the same period in 2024 and the highest since 2016, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said.
“What’s new this season? It’s not exactly the same birds that are being affected. This time, we’ve seen contamination occur earlier among wild birds, and now we’re starting to detect cases that are spreading to farmed birds,” French health security agency ANSES Deputy Director General Gilles Salvat told reporters.
Salvat said common cranes, which typically migrate earlier than waterfowl species such as ducks, geese and swans, were a major factor in the outbreak that swept southwest from northeast Europe, with high fatalities in Germany and France.
France has put its poultry sector on high alert since October, much earlier than in previous years.
In most of Asia the situation was more normal, except for Cambodia, which has seen severe bird flu outbreaks. Japan reported its first case on October 22 — five days later than last year. About 1.65 million birds have so far been culled in Japan.
