Germany has confirmed an unusual outbreak of highly pathogenic H7N5 avian influenza on a farm in its western region, near the Netherlands border, announced the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) on Thursday.
According to a report from German authorities cited by the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), an outbreak in the town of Bad Bentheim in Lower Saxony resulted in the deaths of 6,000 birds out of a flock totaling 90,879. The outbreak was detected on June 29 and confirmed on July 2.
The H7N5 strain, distinct from the H5N1 strain that devastated bird populations and spread to mammals and humans globally, has surfaced in its first recorded outbreak according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
WOAH’s public records on global animal disease outbreaks date back to 2005.
