Latest news with #AvianInfluenzaH5N1
The Journal
04-07-2025
- Health
- The Journal
Public urged not to touch sick or dead wild birds amid ‘highly pathogenic' strain of bird flu
THE PUBLIC HAS been urged to steer clear of sick or dead wild birds and to do the same with pets. The Department of Agriculture has warned that a 'highly pathogenic' strain of bird flu - Avian Influenza H5N1 – is currently circulating in wild birds. This is especially the case in breeding seabirds around Ireland. Over the last three weeks there have been a number of cases of groups of dead wild sea birds washing up on shorelines in counties Kerry, Clare and Galway. This follows 'intensive surveillance' by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). A number of these birds have been tested by the Department of Agriculture and gulls and Guillemot have so far been confirmed with the H5N1 strain. File image of a common Guillemot in flight Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo It's warned that 'many multiples of that are likely to have H5N1'. In total, 25 wild birds have tested positive for this highly pathogenic bird flu so far this year. Bird flu is a notifiable animal disease and is a highly contagious viral disease affecting the respiratory, digestive and nervous systems of many species of birds. Advertisement It can also pose a threat to people and other animals in certain circumstances, but these types of infections are rare. As a result, the Department of Agriculture and HSE has advised people to refrain from touching sick or dead wild birds and to not bring sick wild birds home. Pets should be kept away from sick and dead wild birds and dogs should be kept on a leash where sick or dead wild birds are present. The Department of Agriculture carries out year round bird flu surveillance sampling and in areas where H5N1 has already been confirmed, it may not be necessary to collect further birds for sampling. The bird flu virus is very contagious among birds and can survive for several weeks in the environment. The faeces of infected birds also contain high levels of the virus and so the area can remain infective, irrespective of whether bird carcasses are removed from an area or not. Over the past number of months, the NPWS has been undertaking intensive monitoring and surveillance with a nationwide network of regional staff. This includes collecting information on seabirds from coastlines, key colonies and elsewhere across the island. Any suspected cases are reported to the Department of Agriculture for testing, which has responsibility for bird flu testing in Ireland. Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture has requested that all sick or dead wild birds are reported to the Avian Check app . While not all dead birds will be collected for testing, the Department said reporting is 'greatly appreciated and provides important information to support surveillance and risk assessment activities'. Detailed information on bird flu is available on the Department and websites. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
IOL News
04-07-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Strengthening pandemic readiness: South Africa's collaboration with Germany and the EU
This funding will allow CERI to continue surveillance of high-priority pathogens, including respiratory threats such as Avian Influenza H5N1 and emerging coronaviruses. Image: File South Africa is reinforcing its leadership role in global pandemic preparedness through a major expansion of its genomic surveillance partnership with Germany and the European Union. The next phase of the Genomic Surveillance Project was officially launched on 24 June at the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI), Stellenbosch University's premier epidemic response institute based at its Tygerberg campus. The project is a collaboration between CERI and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), under the broader SAVax Programme. SAVax is co-funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU), and is implemented in partnership with South Africa's Department of Health and Department of Science, Technology and Innovation. The new phase brings an additional R9 million in funding, bringing the total investment in the project to R12 million. This funding will allow CERI to continue surveillance of high-priority pathogens, including respiratory threats such as Avian Influenza H5N1 and emerging coronaviruses. 'South Africa is uniquely positioned to play this role,' said Katja Fuehrer, Specialist for Monitoring and Evaluation, Communication, and Commission Management at GIZ. 'The country has a strong industrial base, a highly skilled workforce, and some of the world's leading research institutions. With SAVax, we are tapping into those strengths to bolster Africa's ability to respond to future pandemics more independently and effectively.' The first phase of the project, which ran from 2023 to 2024, sequenced over 1,000 pathogen genomes, trained more than 50 African scientists, and improved data-sharing protocols to support more effective outbreak responses. The new phase aims to scale these efforts even further by expanding genomic surveillance of respiratory pathogens, strengthening lab capacity in under-resourced provinces, and investing in the training of scientists at historically disadvantaged institutions in South Africa. Establishing robust systems to monitor and analyse genetic information from pathogens helps South Africa to quickly detect and track changes in viruses proactively. This allows for faster responses to outbreaks and enhances pandemic preparedness in the country and the entire region. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading The launch event at CERI featured a tour of laboratories, a panel discussion, and a grant award ceremony attended by senior officials and diplomats. 'We are delighted to expand the collaboration with South Africa,' said Fulgencio Garrido Ruiz, EU Deputy Ambassador to South Africa. 'There is one aspect at the core of the approach which is research and development. A robust local research framework that enhances self-sufficiency and empowers nations to respond independently to health crisis.' To date, the Team Europe Initiative MAV+ has mobilised more than 700 million euro's in South Africa, with 10 million euro's allocated to research infrastructure alone. Sven Hartwig, Deputy Consul General at the German Consulate General in Cape Town, echoed this sentiment. 'It is an honour for the German cooperation to contribute to the Team Europe Initiative MAV+ and to work alongside dedicated partners like CERI,' he said. 'This launch highlights that surveillance for pandemic preparedness relies on partnership and collaboration between the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society. Germany is therefore particularly proud to continue supporting genomic surveillance and remains steadfast in its commitment to share global health goals.' The launch event at the CERI Headquarters on Stellenbosch University's Tygerberg Campus included a tour of laboratories, a panel discussion and a grant award ceremony attended by senior officials and dignitaries. Image: Stellenbosch University Dr Anban Pillay, Deputy Director General from the National Department of Health, emphasised the local value of the initiative. 'The work of CERI and the University of Stellenbosch foster a culture of collaboration.' Claudia Aguirre, head of the GIZ SAVax programme, underlined the importance of capacity building in this next phase of the partnership. 'In this new collaboration these capacity building efforts will be expanded. We look forward to supporting CERI in its journey to develop science on the African continent and contribute to the development of solutions by African scientists for Africa.' The broader SAVax programme also aligns with the African Union's ambitious target to locally produce 60% of the continent's vaccines by 2040. By strengthening surveillance, vaccine development, and training programmes, the partnership aims to reduce Africa's dependency on imported vaccines and diagnostics. 'This partnership exemplifies how science, government, and international cooperation can come together to strengthen public health systems and respond more effectively to epidemic threats,' said Professor Tulio de Oliveira, Director of CERI. 'This is especially important for respiratory pathogens and new pathogens like Mpox, which have pandemic potential. The economic cost of a pandemic is so large that preventing it is a very wise and cost-effective investment.' Fuehrer added that South Africa is now one of only two countries in the Southern Hemisphere conducting real-time genomic tracking of respiratory pathogens, a development that not only strengthens national capacity but fills critical global gaps. 'The data generated in South Africa is shared publicly through international databases, enabling the global health community to monitor pathogens, identify emerging threats, and refine pandemic preparedness,' said Fuehrer. 'It's about shifting the centre of gravity in global health — bringing Africa to the table not just as a recipient, but as a producer, a leader, and a partner.'
Time Magazine
08-05-2025
- Health
- Time Magazine
Kristin Peck
Kristin Peck wants to change how you think about treating and preventing animal disease. Not only is their welfare an ethical obligation, it's also inseparable from the environment, economics, and our own health. 'Animals can help humans live longer,' says Peck, who is CEO of the global animal health company Zoetis. She helped launch Zoetis in 2012 because animal health 'spoke to me personally,' after growing up with a family raising horses, dogs, cats, and birds. Her passion for protecting animals has translated into major achievements, including 25 million doses of Zoetis' innovative arthritis medication given to dogs, starting in 2021 through the present. Zoetis has developed a new vaccine to protect chickens from the currently circulating Avian Influenza H5N1 virus that has infected 168 million birds in the U.S. since early 2022, decimating the poultry industry. In Feb. 2025, the U.S. government issued a license for the vaccine, though it has yet to be distributed for use in poultry farms. This followed the government's use of Zoetis' H5N1 vaccine in 2023 to protect endangered California condors. Zoetis' work pushes beyond U.S. borders: Zoetis distributes vaccines for eight animal species in more than 100 countries. In 2024, its H5N3 vaccine saved endangered birds in New Zealand. Peck's favorite part of the job is traveling to rural Africa, Asia, and Latin America to see how Zoetis' vaccinations are protecting livestock in low-income locales. 'Keeping animals healthy makes such a difference for community health,' she says.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Why are egg prices so high? USDA predicts cost will keep rising due to bird flu outbreaks
While U.S. residents have gotten used to high prices at the grocery store, the cost of eggs is expected to rise even further this year. According to the Department of Agriculture's price outlook, egg prices are predicted to increase about 20% in 2025, compared with about 2.2% for overall food prices. For farm-level eggs, or eggs from pasture-raised or free-range chickens, the increase is even steeper at 45%. The predicted rise is thanks to an egg shortage brought on by the continued outbreak of avian influenza, or the "bird flu," at poultry farms across the nation. Here's what you need to know. When the bird flu is discovered within a chicken population, the United States' practice is to cull the entire group. Sometimes that means millions of chickens at commercial egg-laying farms. So whether it's chickens dying directly from the bird flu, or from the culling, more than 145 million chickens and other birds have been killed since the outbreak began in 2022. The vast majority of those were egg-laying chickens, the Associated Press reported. In 2021, prior to the outbreak, there were around 389 million egg-laying chickens in the U.S., according to the Department of Agriculture. With the egg-laying chicken population so devastated, it's no wonder egg prices are soaring. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price of a dozen large grade-A eggs was $4.15 in December, which was up from $3.65 in November. Cage-free and free-range eggs are even more expensive. According to the Bureau's data, egg prices have fluctuated but largely risen since the onset of the bird flu outbreak in the United States. Egg pricesInfogram Since April of last year, there have been 67 cases of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 virus reported in humans in the U.S. California recently declared a state of emergency as it experiences the brunt of the virus's spread, with 38 cases in humans so far, 36 of which have come from infected dairy cattle herds. At least 732 of the state's dairies have been infected since August. In Oklahoma, there has been no spread to humans reported. However, there have been 244,320 birds, mostly commercial turkeys or chickens raised for their meat or eggs, infected with the bird flu in Oklahoma during the current outbreak. Two of the state's dairy cattle herds have also been infected. While most of the bird flu cases in humans have been mild, there has been one death as a result of an infection. According to the CDC, the virus has so far only spread from animal to human. Public health concerns would significantly increase if the disease starts to spread from person to person. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why have egg prices increased? USDA says cost will continue rising
