Detecten un cas de grip aviària a Lleida, el primer en una granja de Catalunya des del 2023 - 3CatInfo

És un virus molt contagiós i obliga a sacrificar tots els exemplars de la granja i a establir restriccions per a les situades en un radi de 10 quilòmetres del positiu

First U.S. case of human bird flu in 9 months confirmed in Washington state

The U.S. has reported its first human case of bird flu since February, with a confirmed infection in Washington state

Nou brot de grip aviària en una granja de Huelva després de l'ona de morts d'aus en parcs de Sevilla i Màlaga

La crisi per la grip aviària a Andalusia fa un nou pas després de confirmar-se la presència del subtipus H5N1 de la influença aviària altament patògena (IAAP) en

Child dies from H5N1 bird flu in Cambodia; 6th fatal case this year

An 11-year-old boy has died from H5N1 bird flu in Cambodia, according to the health ministry, marking the country’s fourth human case—and the sixth reported death worldwide—linked to the virus this year. The child, from Srey Sampoung village in Kampong Speu province, recently fell ill and died on Tuesday after being taken to hospital in […]

HHS cancels $766 million in Moderna contracts for vaccines for flu pandemics

HHS has notified Moderna that it is canceling a nearly $600 million contract for vaccines for flu strains that could trigger future pandemics.

Secretaría de Salud informa la detección del primer caso humano de influenza aviar A (H5N1)

Genetic data and meteorological conditions: unravelling the windborne transmission of H5N1 high-pathogenicity avian influenza between commercial poultry outbreaks

Understanding the transmission routes of high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) is crucial for developing effective control measures to prevent its spread. In this context, windborne transmission, the idea that the virus can travel through the air over considerable distances, is a contentious concept and, documented cases are rare. Here, though, we provide genetic evidence supporting the feasibility of windborne transmission. During the 2023-24 HPAI season, molecular surveillance identified identical H5N1 strains among a cluster of unrelated commercial farms about 8 km apart in the Czech Republic. The episode started with the abrupt mortality of fattening ducks on one farm and was followed by disease outbreaks at two nearby high-biosecurity chicken farms. Using genetic, epizootiological, meteorological and geographical data, we reconstructed a mosaic of events strongly suggesting wind was the mechanism of infection transmission between poultry in at least two independent cases. By aligning the genetic and meteorological data with critical outbreak events, we determined the most likely time window during which the transmission occurred and inferred the sequence of infected houses at the recipient sites. Our results suggest that the contaminated plume emitted from the infected fattening duck farm was the critical medium of HPAI transmission, rather than the dust generated during depopulation. Furthermore, they also strongly implicate the role of confined mechanically-ventilated buildings with high population densities in facilitating windborne transmission and propagating virus concentrations below the minimum infectious dose at the recipient sites. These findings underscore the importance of considering windborne spread in future outbreak mitigation strategies. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.