Avian, “the worst epidemic ever in Europe”

This winter, Europe, in addition to the Covid 19 pandemic in humans, is experiencing the worst avian flu epidemic in its history, according to a research institute headed by the German government. “We are currently experiencing the most violent avian epidemic ever, in Germany and Europe”, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (Fli), the government’s research institute on animal health, tells the Dpa. New cases are discovered every day, and it’s not just birds that are affected, according to the institute. “The end is not in sight: the affected countries range from Finland to the Faroe Islands to Ireland, from Russia to Portugal”, underline the researchers. Cases have also been reported in Canada, India and East Asia. In Germany alone, 394 infections were detected in wild birds, including ducks, geese, swans and seagulls between early October and 29 December. The cases were mainly detected along the coasts. The FLI also recorded 46 infections in poultry farms in Germany. Over the same period, in Europe, the FLI data show 675 infections in wild birds and 534 in farmed animals. There have also been leaps in class, as well as in species: cases have also been ascertained in mammals, for example among the common foxes in the Netherlands and Finland, the gray seals in Sweden, the common seals in Germany and the otters in Finland.