Bird flu outbreaks have been tracked and wild birds have so far been caused by the same type of H5N1 bird flu that has been present in the Netherlands since October last year. So far it seems that no new type has arrived with the bird migration.
At Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR), the virus type of outbreaks on poultry farms and hobby keepers is determined. Just like the wild birds.
So far, no new virus type has been found in both the outbreaks in kept birds and in the dead wild birds that have been studied. “Genetic analysis of viruses found in dead wild birds has not yet shown the introduction of a new virus,” said bird flu expert Nancy Beerens of WBVR. All viruses have the same genetic makeup as the variants that were found earlier in the bird flu season 2021-22.’
More possibilities for propagation
It is not clear why many poultry farms in the Netherlands have become infected in a short period of time. It is true that since October the number of wild birds in the Netherlands has increased rapidly, because the migratory birds arrive that winter in the Netherlands. Beerens: ‘The more birds there are, the more opportunities there are for the bird flu virus to multiply. The risk of contamination of poultry farms increases rapidly as a result.’
It is clear that the number of reports of deaths in wild birds is currently increasing. The bird flu virus is detected in various bird species that have been found dead.