Taiwan Reports High-path Avian Flu in Market Chickens
TAIWAN - Highly pathogenic avian influenza of the H5N2 subtype was found in two chickens at a market in Taipei in mid-April during surveillance. No positive samples have been found since, either at the market or on the source farm.
5 May 2014
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By: The veterinary authority sent an Immediate Notification dated 2 May to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
The report describes one outbreak of subclinical highly pathogenic avian influenza in two native chickens in the Wanhua District of Taipei city on 15 April. Both birds died.
Intensive active surveillance has been conducted on a wholesale poultry market in Taipei City since April 2014. One hundred serums, 100 faecal swabs and six dead chickens were collected for serological and virological tests.
The H5N2 subtype of avian influenza virus was isolated in one dead native chicken body sample on 23 April 2014 but it was not in the other samples.
By tracing back on 23 April 2014, the original chicken farm in Yunlin county had no remaining chickens but movement control was immediately conducted on the farm.
The pathogenicity of the virus was confirmed by the national laboratory as highly pathogenic (>75 per cent mortality of tested chickens) on 2 May 2014.
Samples taken from eight poultry farms in a one-kilometre of the original farm and confirmed all negative by virus isolation.
After thorough cleaning and disinfection of this index farm, sentinel poultry test will be implemented to affirm non-viral activity in the environment. The transaction activities at the wholesale poultry market were stopped for one day to conduct thorough cleaning and disinfection. There were no poultry farms located within the 3-km radius area around the market.
