Weekly Overview: Progress on Tackling Poultry Diseases
GLOBAL - It sometimes seems that we are fighting a losing battle against poultry diseases but there is constant progress and some examples have been reported in the last week. Jackie Linden reports on recent advances in the control of avian flu and Infectious Bursal Disease. New outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus have been reported in poultry in the last week in China and Viet Nam.
16 January 2014
2 minute read
By: On bird flu news, Thailand has confirmed that the country remains free of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus following allegations to the contrary of social media. In Australia, there have been no outbreaks since October 2013.
Indonesia has been hit hard by the HPAI H5N1 virus in poultry but a new study from the Netherlands reveals how the disease may be brought under control by vaccination.
In the US, researchers at Ohio State University say that the development of a universal vaccine that would protect humans, pigs and poultry against influenza is the focus of new research following the award of a substantial grant.
New technology is being used at Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center to create a more effective vaccine against Infectious Bursal Disease.
As in life, not all the news is positive.
Costa Rica has reported six outbreaks of fowl typhoid (caused by Salmonella gallinarum) affecting almost 112,000 birds; around 11,000 died and the rest have been destroyed.
HPAI H5N1 continues to rumble on in poultry flocks in China - where a new outbreak has occurred in Hubei province - and there have been four new reports from one northern province in Viet Nam.
