Avian influenza A/H5N6 can be transmitted to humans

PV:Can you share about the current situation of H5N6 avian influenza in the province?
Mr. Dang Van Minh:Since the beginning of January 2020, the A/H5N6 bird flu epidemic has occurred in 11 countries. In Vietnam alone, there are outbreaks of A/H5N6 bird flu (not over 21 days) in Quang Ninh, Hanoi, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An.
In Nghe An, in 2019, the epidemic occurred in Yen Thanh and Quynh Luu districts, destroying 6,765 poultry. This year, from February 5 to February 11, the epidemic occurred in 4 communes of Quynh Luu district, all 621 poultry of households with the epidemic were destroyed.

Veterinary staff of Quynh Luu district vaccinate poultry in the area. Photo: Phu Huong

PV:It is known that avian influenza A/H5N6 can be transmitted to humans. So can you tell us more about the danger of this disease?

Avian influenza A/H5N6 spreads very quickly, causing mass deaths of poultry of many different species such as chickens, ducks, geese, quails, etc. Photo: Quang An

In particular, this year is a leap year with two Aprils, so the forecast is that the drizzle and wet weather will last for a long time, creating favorable conditions for CGC to develop and spread strongly. In China, in 2018, there was a recorded case of a person who died from A/H5N6 influenza and before being infected, this person had slaughtered poultry.

At that time, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control stated that although the transmission of the H5N6 CGC virus in humans is very rare, because of its rarity, the human body's immunity to H5N6 is very low, or even non-existent. Therefore, if the CGC virus is able to adapt or acquire certain genes from the virus to humans, it can easily be transmitted from person to person, then an influenza pandemic will occur and the severity of the disease in humans will be very high.
In fact, world veterinary organizations are very concerned about CGC, because if there is a variant that can be transmitted from poultry to humans, or from human to human, it will be extremely dangerous, and the mortality rate in infected cases can be up to 30 - 40%.
PV:Faced with such a dangerous situation, what measures have we taken, sir?
Mr. Dang Van Minh:Nghe An has destroyed all sick and dead poultry flocks according to regulations; Collected samples to monitor poultry farms adjacent to the outbreak. At the same time, 2 million doses of CGC vaccine were provided for localities to implement vaccination in old outbreak areas and high-risk areas; especially urgently provided to Quynh Luu district to organize epidemic prevention. Regarding disinfectant chemicals, in addition to the quantity used for the first month of disinfection in 2020, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine provided Quynh Luu district with an additional 120 liters. In addition, mobilized and encouraged farmers to buy lime powder and organize disinfection.

Spraying disinfectant is one of the important solutions in epidemic prevention. Photo: Phu Huong

However, currently in the world and in the region, the situation of animal diseases is very complicated, unpredictable; many dangerous diseases occur and are transmitted from animals to animals, from animals to humans and vice versa such as CGC, rabies... Nghe An has a large poultry herd with 25 million poultry. However, small-scale farming accounts for over 85% of the total livestock herd; high livestock density, implementing biosecurity measures and preventing factors that spread pathogens is difficult.

In the coming time, the weather will change seasons, reducing the resistance of poultry flocks, creating favorable conditions for pathogens to survive and spread widely. Meanwhile, the vaccination rate is still too low. In 2019, apart from a few livestock farms associated with large corporations such as CP and Gorden Star, the whole province only vaccinated 1.6 million doses of CGC vaccine. Along with other risks, the possibility of disease continuing to arise and cause harm is very high, especially the possibility of transmission from animals to humans.
PV:So what are the solutions that need to be implemented in the coming time, sir?
Mr. Dang Van Minh:When an outbreak occurs, localities need to coordinate with veterinary agencies to thoroughly handle the outbreak, implement disinfection measures; strengthen monitoring and sampling for avian influenza virus in high-risk areas, especially at collection, trading and concentrated breeding points to promptly detect and handle outbreaks, and prevent infection from poultry to humans.

Localities should strengthen control of hatcheries in the area, ensuring the supply of breeds with clear origin and free of disease. Breeders must register with local authorities to ensure sufficient breeding conditions and easy disease control. Breeding must follow biosafety methods, in which the extremely important measure is to vaccinate all types of vaccines, especially CGC vaccine which is a mandatory vaccine. Encourage breeding in the form of all-in-all-out, leaving barns empty for 21-30 days to disinfect before re-raising, do not raise many batches, many species of animals at the same time, in the same barn to create conditions for pathogen transformation and spread. Poultry slaughter must be carried out at centralized slaughterhouses, ensuring veterinary and epidemiological hygiene conditions.

Two more outbreaks of H5N6 avian influenza appeared in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of February 11, in Quynh Luu district, two more outbreaks of H5N6 avian influenza appeared in Quynh Hau and Quynh Ba communes.