Iceland - Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, H5N5 in wild birds 2023 - 2024

[Treyfish]

Avian Influenza Identified In Seagull


Published November 20, 2024 Words by
Jóhannes Bjarkason
Photo by
The Reykjavík Grapevine


A case of avian influenza, or bird flu, was identified in a seagull captured near Tjönun, Reykjavík’s central pond. The bird was transported to the University of Iceland’s Institute for Experimental Pathology where the infection was confirmed.

The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) implore the public to report sick or dead birds. This is the first case identified in a wild bird in the capital area this year.

In a conversation with RÚV, MAST speciality veterinarian Birgitte Brugger said there was no cause for concern given the low numbers of reported infections.

Birgitte emphasised people must not touch infected or dead birds.

“We don’t want to give the virus an opportunity to adapt to other animals, mammals and people. That’s why it’s important to not touch them,” Birgitte said to RÚV.

In October, MAST issued an uncertainty phase following the confirmation of H5N5 infections among two birds in North and Southeast Iceland.

https://grapevine.is/news/2024/11/20/avian-influenza-identified-in-seagull/

[Lance]

https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/5937

[Lance]

Iceland - Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-) - Follow up report 3


GENERAL INFORMATION

COUNTRY/TERRITORY OR ZONE
COUNTRY/TERRITORY

ANIMAL TYPE
TERRESTRIAL

DISEASE CATEGORY
Listed disease

EVENT ID
5254

DISEASE
Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-)

CAUSAL AGENT
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus

GENOTYPE / SEROTYPE / SUBTYPE
H5N5

START DATE
2023/07/08

REASON FOR NOTIFICATION
New strain in the country

DATE OF LAST OCCURRENCE - CONFIRMATION DATE
2023/09/29

EVENT STATUS
On-going

END DATE - SELF-DECLARATION

NO REPORT INFORMATION

REPORT NUMBER
Follow-up report 3

REPORT ID
FUR_164575

REPORT REFERENCE - REPORT DATE
2023/12/21

REPORT STATUS
Validated

NO EVOLUTION REPORT

EPIDEMIOLOGY

SOURCE OF EVENT OR ORIGIN OF INFECTION

• Unknown or inconclusive

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL COMMENTS
No epidemiological comment

QUANTITATIVE DATA SUMMARY

MEASURING UNIT
Animal
SpeciesSusceptibleCasesDeathsKilled and Disposed ofSlaughtered/ Killed for commercial useVaccinated Common Raven (WILD)NEW-22000TOTAL-33000 White-tailed Eagle (WILD)NEW------TOTAL-11000 Black-legged Kittiwake (WILD)NEW------TOTAL-21100 Common Eider (WILD)NEW------TOTAL-11000 All speciesNEW-22000TOTAL-76100

DIAGNOSTIC DETAILS

CLINICAL SIGNS
YES METHOD OF

DIAGNOSTIC
Diagnostic test

Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR)	Institute for Experimental Pathology, University of Iceland	White-tailed Eagle	ob_125673	2023/09/29	Positive

https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/5254

[Lance]

Iceland - Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-) - Follow up report 2


GENERAL INFORMATION

COUNTRY/TERRITORY OR ZONE
COUNTRY/TERRITORY

ANIMAL TYPE
TERRESTRIAL

DISEASE CATEGORY
Listed disease

EVENT ID
5254

DISEASE
Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-)

CAUSAL AGENT
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus

GENOTYPE / SEROTYPE / SUBTYPE
H5N5

START DATE
2023/07/08

REASON FOR NOTIFICATION
New strain in the country

DATE OF LAST OCCURRENCE - CONFIRMATION DATE
2023/09/29

EVENT STATUS
On-going

END DATE - SELF-DECLARATION

NO REPORT INFORMATION

REPORT NUMBER
Follow-up report 2

REPORT ID
FUR_163871

REPORT REFERENCE - REPORT DATE
2023/11/14

REPORT STATUS
Validated

NO EVOLUTION REPORT


EPIDEMIOLOGY SOURCE OF EVENT OR ORIGIN OF INFECTION

• Unknown or inconclusive

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL COMMENTS
No epidemiological comment

QUANTITATIVE DATA SUMMARY

MEASURING UNIT
Animal

SpeciesSusceptibleCasesDeathsKilled and Disposed ofSlaughtered/ Killed for commercial useVaccinated Common Raven (WILD)NEW-11000TOTAL-11000 White-tailed Eagle (WILD)NEW------TOTAL-11000 Black-legged Kittiwake (WILD)NEW-21100TOTAL-21100 Common Eider (WILD)NEW------TOTAL-11000 All speciesNEW-32100TOTAL-54100

DIAGNOSTIC DETAILS

CLINICAL SIGNS
YES

METHOD OF DIAGNOSTIC
Diagnostic test

Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR)	Institute for Experimental Pathology, University of Iceland	White-tailed Eagle	ob_125673	2023/09/29	Positive

https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/5254

[Lance]

Iceland - Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-) - Follow up report 1


GENERAL INFORMATION

COUNTRY/TERRITORY OR ZONE
COUNTRY/TERRITORY

ANIMAL TYPE
TERRESTRIAL

DISEASE CATEGORY
Listed disease

EVENT ID
5254

DISEASE
Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-)

CAUSAL AGENT
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus

GENOTYPE / SEROTYPE / SUBTYPE
H5N5

START DATE
2023/09/17

REASON FOR NOTIFICATION
New strain in the country

DATE OF LAST OCCURRENCE - CONFIRMATION DATE
2023/09/29

EVENT STATUS
On-going

END DATE - SELF-DECLARATION

NO REPORT INFORMATION

REPORT NUMBER
Follow-up report 1

REPORT ID
FUR_163130

REPORT REFERENCE - REPORT DATE
2023/10/05

REPORT STATUS
Validated

NO EVOLUTION REPORT

EPIDEMIOLOGY

SOURCE OF EVENT OR ORIGIN OF INFECTION

• Unknown or inconclusive

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL COMMENTS
No epidemiological comment

QUANTITATIVE DATA SUMMARY

MEASURING UNIT
Animal

SpeciesSusceptibleCasesDeathsKilled and Disposed ofSlaughtered/ Killed for commercial useVaccinated White-tailed Eagle (WILD)NEW------TOTAL-11000 Common Eider (WILD)NEW-11000TOTAL-11000 All speciesNEW-11000TOTAL-22000

DIAGNOSTIC DETAILS

CLINICAL SIGNS
YES

METHOD OF DIAGNOSTIC
Diagnostic test

Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR)	Institute for Experimental Pathology, University of Iceland	White-tailed Eagle	ob_125673	2023/09/29	Positive

https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/5254

[Pathfinder]

"Urchin" was a wrongly translated word by Google Translate.

Excerpt from post #2

Skæðar veirur í haferni og æðarfugli
Í sýnum sem tekin voru úr dauðum haferni sem fannst á skeri úti fyrir Barðaströnd og í æðarfulgi sem fannst á Ólafsfirði í síðasta mánuði fundust skæðar fuglaflensuveirur. Veirurnar eru af stofninum HPAI H5N5, sem hefur ekki greinst hér á landi áður og er ekki algengur. Stofninn sem hefur verið ríkjandi í Evrópu og...

Translated with ImTranslator

Viral viruses in sea eagles and eiders
Samples taken from dead sea eagles found on a cutter off Barðaströnd and in eider fulfil found in Ólafsfjörður last month found virulent avian influenza viruses. The viruses are of the strain HPAI H5N5, which has not been detected in Iceland before and is not common. The strain that has been dominant in Europe and...

[Michael Coston]

Running the headline through the Bing Translator yields `Virulent avian influenza virus of a strain not previously detected in Iceland was found in sea eagles and eider birds'

I assume its just a Google translation glitch.

[sharon sanders]

The WAHIS report only includes an eagle. I do not see where the sea urchin come into this, it seems highly unlikely that it would be susceptible, and I can find no other reference to it. Translation error? fannst í haferni og æðarfugli. Google just translates hanferni as Ocean

I am not sure. Norovirus has been found in sea urchins. Why not flu? I guess we will wait and see. Could be a translation machine oddity, or not. In any event the above is just another example of the spread of avian flu among the world's wildlife.



Norovirus contamination of sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus): Potential food risk for consumers

Author links open overlay panelNânci Santos-Ferreira ^a, João Rodrigo Mesquita ^{b c}, Enrique Rivadulla ^d, Ângela S. Inácio ^a, Maria São José Nascimento ^{c e}, Jesus Romalde ^d, Paulo Martins da Costa ^{a b}

Cite
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.107041Get rights and content


Highlights

• •
  
  First report on the norovirus contamination of sea urchins.
• •
  
  Norovirus was detected in bacteriologically safe urchins.
• •
  
  Sea urchin gonads were contaminated with norovirus GI and GII.
• •
  
  Sea urchin gonads could pose a public health risk if consumed raw.

Abstract


Sea urchin gonads are today considered a gourmet food but despite eaten raw, not much attention has been given to microbiological quality. This study evaluated the microbial (bacterial and viral) contamination and adequacy to current European regulations of Paracentrotus lividus sea urchins produced in Portugal.

Four batches of 10 sea urchins were collected (September 2016 to May 2017) from the sea floor of a natural urchin growing area located in the north of Portugal. Sea urchin gonad batches were analysed for E. coli and Salmonella spp. as governed by the Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005, modified by regulation (EC) No 2015/2285, on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. Hepatitis A virus, norovirus GI and norovirus GII were also searched for following ISO 15216-1:2017.

The four batches were all within the sanitary limits imposed by legislation for E. coli and Salmonella spp. Two batches were found positive for norovirus (one positive for norovirus GI, the other for both norovirus GI and GII), presenting viral concentrations that ranged from 8.7 × 10³ and 3.2 × 10⁴ genome copies/g. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis showed that the obtained sequence clustered with norovirus GI.2.

This study is the first evaluating the presence of human pathogenic viruses in live echinoderms and the first reporting NoV contamination of bacteriologically safe sea urchin gonads. NoV infection risk related to consumption of raw sea urchin gonads is in urgent need for evaluation.

source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...56713519306309

[JJackson]

The WAHIS report only includes an eagle. I do not see where the sea urchin come into this, it seems highly unlikely that it would be susceptible, and I can find no other reference to it. Translation error? fannst í haferni og æðarfugli. Google just translates hanferni as Ocean

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

A rare bird flu virus from a strain that has not been detected in Iceland before was found in a sea urchin and an eider

DV Editorial Board
Tuesday, October 3, 2023 3:47 p.mA rare bird flu virus from a strain that has not been detected in Iceland before was found in a sea urchin and an eider

Matvælastofnun reported on its website earlier today that in samples taken from a sea urchin that was found dead on a cutter off Barðaströnd in mid-September, dangerous bird flu viruses of a strain that has not been detected in Iceland before and is not common, HPAI H5N5, were found. . Since then, the institute has received information from the University of Iceland's Experimental Station at Keldum, that an eagle that was found dead in Ólafsfjörður a short time ago was infected with the same strain of bird flu virus.

The Norwegian Food Agency says these analyzes highlight the importance of ensuring good quarantine when dealing with poultry and other birds in captivity. The organization also reminds that reports from the public about the discovery of sick and dead wild birds are a key element in monitoring the presence and spread of bird flu.

Few reports of sick or dead wild birds have been received by Matvælastofnun since this spring, after the mass death of ptarmigan, puffins and other blackbirds subsided. It was previously reported that bird flu was not detected in them. As of July, only five samples have been taken from wild birds. Three of them were found to be negative for avian flu, while two were positive, the previously mentioned samples from sea urchins and eiders.

The viruses detected in those samples are from the HPAI H5N5 strain, which is not common, and the Swedish Food Agency says this is the first diagnosis of this strain in Iceland. Questions arise about where the virus came from. The strain that has been dominant in Europe and elsewhere since October 2021 is HPAI H5N1. During the same period, HPAI H5N5 was detected in only four samples in Europe, all from wild birds in Norway and Sweden, and in a few samples from wild birds, red foxes and skunks in eastern Canada. With complete sequencing of the viruses from the sea eagle and the osprey, it will hopefully be possible to determine whether this strain arrived from Europe or now in late summer with the arrival of migratory birds from breeding grounds in the western Atlantic.

The Swedish Food Agency emphasizes that, based on the data available at this point in time, it can be assumed that the spread of the deadly bird flu virus is low in Iceland and that the risk of infection for poultry and other birds in captivity is therefore low. However, it is important that all bird owners know how to prevent infection. The Swedish Food Agency asks the public to continue to report the discovery of sick and dead wild birds . The notifications are a very important part of monitoring the presence and spread of infection.

https://www.dv.is/frettir/2023/10/3/skaed-fuglaflensuveira-af-stofni-sem-ekki-hefur-greinst-islandi-adur-fannst-haferni-og-aedarfugli/

----------------------------------------

Avian flu in sea urchins and eiders

News - 03.10.2023

In samples taken from a sea urchin that was found dead on a cutter outside Barðaströnd in mid-September, severe bird flu viruses of a strain that has not been detected in Iceland before and is not common, HPAI H5N5, were found. The samples were studied at the University of Iceland's Experimental Station in Keldum. Today, the Food Agency received information from Keld that an eider that was found dead in Ólafsfjörður recently was infected with the same strain of bird flu virus. These analyzes highlight the importance of ensuring good quarantine when dealing with poultry and other captive birds. The Norwegian Food Agency reminds that reports from the public about the discovery of sick and dead wild birds are a key element in monitoring the presence and spread of bird flu.

Few reports of sick or dead wild birds have been received by Matvælastofnun since spring, after the mass death of ptarmigan, puffins and other blackbirds subsided. It has been previously reported that bird flu was not detected in them . As of July, only five samples have been taken from wild birds. Three of them tested negative for bird flu, while two tested positive. The birds that tested positive were, on the one hand, a young sea eagle that died on September 17th on a cut in Breiðafjörður, and on the other hand, an eagle that was found dead on Ólafsfjörður on September 21st.

The viruses detected are from the HPAI H5N5 strain, which is not common, and these are the first diagnoses of this strain in Iceland. A question arises as to where the virus came from. The strain that has been dominant in Europe and elsewhere since October 2021 is HPAI H5N1. During the same period, HPAI H5N5 has been detected in only four samples in Europe, all from wild birds in Norway and Sweden, and in a few samples from wild birds, red foxes and skunks in eastern Canada. With the complete sequencing of the viruses from the osprey and the eider it will hopefully be possible to determine whether this strain arrived from Europe or now in late summer with the arrival of migratory birds from nesting sites in the western Atlantic.

Based on the data available at this point in time, it can be assumed that the spread of avian influenza viruses is low in this country and the risk of infection for poultry and other birds in captivity is therefore low. Still, it is important that all bird owners take preventive measures to protect their birds as much as possible against infection from wild birds, and the Swedish Food Agency asks the public to continue to report the discovery of sick and dead wild birds . The notifications are a very important part of monitoring the presence and spread of infection.

https://www.mast.is/is/um-mast/frettir/frettir/fuglaflensa-i-haferni-og-aedarfugli

[Lance]

Iceland - Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-) - Immediate notification


GENERAL INFORMATION

COUNTRY/TERRITORY OR ZONE
COUNTRY/TERRITORY

ANIMAL TYPE
TERRESTRIAL

DISEASE CATEGORY
Listed disease

EVENT ID
5254

DISEASE
Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-)

CAUSAL AGENT
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus

GENOTYPE / SEROTYPE / SUBTYPE
H5N5

START DATE
2023/09/17

REASON FOR NOTIFICATION
New strain in the country

DATE OF LAST OCCURRENCE - CONFIRMATION DATE
2023/09/29

EVENT STATUS
On-going

END DATE - SELF-DECLARATION
NO REPORT INFORMATION

REPORT NUMBER
Immediate notification

REPORT ID
IN_163032

REPORT REFERENCE - REPORT DATE
2023/10/02

REPORT STATUS
Validated

NO EVOLUTION REPORT

EPIDEMIOLOGY

SOURCE OF EVENT OR ORIGIN OF INFECTION
Unknown or inconclusive

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL COMMENTS
No epidemiological comment

QUANTITATIVE DATA SUMMARY

MEASURING UNIT
Animal

SpeciesSusceptibleCasesDeathsKilled and Disposed ofSlaughtered/ Killed for commercial useVaccinated White-tailed Eagle (WILD)NEW-11000TOTAL-11000

DIAGNOSTIC DETAILS

CLINICAL SIGNS
YES

METHOD OF DIAGNOSTIC
Diagnostic test

Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR)	Institute for Experimental Pathology, University of Iceland	White-tailed Eagle	ob_125673	2023/09/29	Positive

https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/5254