Avian flu continues to spread across Africa

In March, Nigeria recorded four new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on poultry farms. The first was at a farm and hatchery in the central state of Kaduna. Over 2000 birds died, while the others were culled. Three more outbreaks were later notified to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). They involved a farm with over 6000 poultry in Zamfara and two small backyard flocks in Kano. Both states border with Kaduna. All outbreaks were caused by the H5N1 virus serotype. Nigeria has been dealing with continuous HPAI outbreaks since 2020, impacting more than 2 million of the nation’s birds.
Meanwhile, nearby Togo also confirmed four HPAI outbreaks between mid-February and mid-March. They were first detected in two premises in the Centrale region and then at two farms in the southernmost Maritime region.  The virus was identified as the H5N1 variant. According to WOAH notifications, Togo had been free from the disease for several months before the new outbreaks. Recently, the H5N1 HPAI virus was also detected in the remote British Overseas Territory of St. Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha. The three islands are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, over 2000 Km off the southwest coast of South Africa.
According to the WOAH, Egypt also reported several HPAI outbreaks in November and December 2024. One affected a 2000 poultry farm in the Faiyam governorate, and the other a flock in the Damietta region. The latter was caused by the H5N8 variant. Two other outbreaks involving the H5N1 virus serotype were detected in December in the northern region of Monufia and Lower Egypt. In response to the outbreaks, nearly 360,000 birds were vaccinated against HPAI.