Seven new outbreaks of low-pathogenic avian influenza of the H5N2 virus subtype have been reported by the Taiwanese veterinary authority.

In Follow-up Report No.1 dated 12 May to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), it reports seven outbreaks of the disease, all of which started in January and February this year.

In total, 147,88 birds were affected, of which 69,179 died and 78,621 were destroyed.

According to the report, abnormal mortality was observed on seven poultry farms in the counties of Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi and in the cities of Tainan and Taichung. Five of the outbreaks affected chickens and native chickens were infected on the other two farms.

Samples were sent to the National Laboratory, the Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI) for diagnosis, where the H5N2 subtype low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) was confirmed.

The farms were put under movement restrictions.

The pathogenicity of the virus has been subsequently confirmed by national laboratory as low pathogenic, i.e. less than 75 per cent mortality of the tested chickens, on 30 April 2015.

All the birds on the infected farms have been culled, and thorough cleaning and disinfection have been conducted. Farms within a 3-km radius of the infected farms were placed under intensified surveillance for three months.