Higher classification Influenza A virus | Rank Virus subtype | |
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Scientific name Influenza A virus subtype H5N8 Similar Influenza A virus subtype, Influenza A virus subtype, Influenza A virus subtype, Influenza A virus subtype, Influenza A virus subtype | ||
H5N8 is a subtype of the Influenza A virus (sometimes called bird flu virus). Although H5N8 is considered one of the less pathogenic subtypes for humans, it is beginning to become more pathogenic. H5N8 has previously been used in place of the highly pathogenic H1N1 in studies.
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Symptoms
For the most part, symptoms of the H5N8 virus are respiratory. The common symptoms are "flu-like": fever, chills, headache, coughing, and weakness. Conjunctivitis reportedly has been associated with the virus, as well. When farmed poultry are confirmed as having the virus, the farm will cull the birds. This way, the virus will hopefully not be passed along to the public. However, neighboring farms and area wildlife must be tested, also.
1983
Perhaps the most known outbreak of H5N8 occurred in Ireland in 1983. Poultry on two farms showed the usual symptoms, plus diarrhea, nervousness, and depression. Poultry farms within close proximity soon began to show signs of infection, as well, but no contact between the farms could be established. In the end, 8,000 turkeys, 28,020 chickens, and 270,000 ducks were culled. When investigated in the lab, clinical findings demonstrated that turkeys were the most susceptible to infection. The virus could not be clinically reproduced in ducks.
2016–17
In the second half of 2016 H5N8 outbreak was first reported in Europe, spreading to Asia by the end of the year.
October 2016
On 27 October 2016, a H5N8 case was first reported in a wild swan in Hungary. Further reports were subsequently made from seven additional European countries. There were outbreaks in poultry and wild birds in Austria, Hungary and Germany. There were reports of infection in wild birds only in Croatia, Denmark, Poland and Switzerland.
November 2016
In the Netherlands, H5N8 was found in wild birds and birds in a zoo and on the 26th November, 190,000 ducks were destroyed at six farms. Outbreaks have also been reported in India, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan and Russia.
December 2016
On 16 December 2016, it was confirmed that there was an outbreak of the H5N8 virus at a farm near Tetney, Louth — the first outbreak in the United Kingdom. This outbreak has caused the combined death and culling of 5,000 turkey birds. At the time of writing (16 December 2016), a 3 km protection zone and a 10 km surveillance zone were enforced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
In the second week of December official delegations from Japan, South Korea and China gathered in Beijing for a symposium on preventing and controlling bird flu and other diseases in East Asia, according to the website of China's ministry of agriculture.
By the end of December the outbreak had spread to South Korea, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Thousands of birds and animals were being culled in Germany to stop the spread. In the United Kingdom the flu was found in a wild duck at a turkey farm in Lincolnshire.
In South Korea, a total of record 18.4 million birds had been killed by December since the first outbreak of avian flu was reported at a farm on Nov. 18.
Japan has reported five outbreaks since the end of November with 800,000 chickens having been culled in one month.
January 2017
In early January 2017, France culled about 800,000 birds to prevent the spread of H5N8. In Nigeria, it was reported that the virus affected 3.5 million birds. The virus was also detected in Spain and Slovenia.
KAMPALA Jan 15 (Reuters) - Uganda's ministry for agriculture said on Sunday it had detected bird flu in two locations, one affecting wild birds and another hitting domestic birds
February 2017
Two cases of the virus have been detected in Northern Ireland amongst wild geese. As a response, the Department of Agriculture has extended restrictions on poultry flocks until at least 16 March.