2013: Fewer notifications for highly pathogenic AI
Last year, the world organization for animal health (OIE) received more immediate notifications for low pathogenic avian influenza. For the highly pathogenic forms however, the OIE received less notifications than the year before.
This is stated in the OIE annual report over 2013, that has just been released.
The OIE has 178 member countries (in 2013). Via the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS), these members – but also non-members – can make an immediate notification of an OIE-listed animal disease. This system enables data on animal diseases to be process in real-time, so that the intentional community can then be informed and can act quickly.
Between January 1st and December 31st 2013, the OIE received 18 immediate notifications for low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) and 12 notifications for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). LPAI typically causes little or no clinical signs in birds and HPAI can cause severe clinical signs and possible high mortality rates in birds. In the year before, the OIE received 11 immediate notifications for LPAI and 16 for HPAI.
In April 2013, a large outbreak of a novel low pathogenic avian influenza (H7N9) was detected in China and caused a major outbreak in humans (over 100 people were hospitalized). This has increased the efforts by the OIE reference laboratories for avian influenza and other labs in China to continue their work on to the H7N9 virus to gain better knowledge and to ensure that the best test protocols are available.
In 2013, the OIE received a total of 158 immediate notifications for the OIE listed diseases (61 diseases in total). Foot and mouth disease got the most immediate notifications (19), followed by LPAI (18).
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