By AFP

Europe has experienced the “most devastating” bird flu epidemic in its history for more than a year, with some 50 million birds slaughtered on contaminated farms, health authorities say.

Between October 2021 and September 2022, “Europe has been impacted by the most devastating epidemics of highly pathogenic avian influenza,” says a report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Center for Disease Control. (ECDC). EU reference laboratory.

In total, 37 European countries were affected, with more than 2,500 outbreaks detected across the continent.

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The actual loss of chickens, ducks or turkeys on the affected farms was higher, as the balance of the 50 million birds slaughtered did not include the eventual preventative operations carried out around registered outbreaks, the health agency told AFP.

The epidemic has not subsided since September, and infections are increasing as winter approaches.

EFSA emphasized that “for the first time” there was no separation between the two epidemic waves, as the virus did not disappear in the summer.

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This fall, the epidemic became more violent than last year at the same time, with 35% more farms infected.

Between 10 September and 2 December 2022, nearly 400 outbreaks were reported on farms in 18 European countries, led by France, United Kingdom and Hungary.

At the request of the European Commission, EFSA said it was checking the “availability of a vaccine” to prevent the highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry, and “studying possible vaccination strategies.”