EFSA report that avian influenza virus is spreading rapidly in Europe

On 20 November 2020, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reported a high-risk of avian influenza moving into previously unaffected European countries. In the month previous to this report, more than 300 cases have been reported in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. The majority of the detections were in wild birds, although there have been a handful of outbreaks in poultry. The new report rates the likelihood of the virus spreading from wild birds to poultry as high.

No human cases have been detected in the new outbreaks so far, and the EFSA highlight that the risk of transmission to the general public remains very low.

Source: EFSA, 20 November 2020