Avian Influenza: H5 and H7 outbreak update report:
Overview of the new HPAI H5 event
Sequencing data that became available in April 2023, indicated that a new strain of HPAI H5N1 was introduced in November 2022 in the Free State Province. It was decided to report this outbreak and any future HPAI H5 outbreaks as new events with the World Organisation of Animal health (WOAH), unless proven otherwise.
Overview of the new HPAI H5 poultry event
The index case of the new HPAI H5 poultry event has a start date of 18 April 2023 and was detected in poultry layers in the Swartland Local Municipality within the Western Cape Province. A total of twenty-one (n=21) outbreaks were reported to WOAH as part of the new HPAI H5 poultry event – fourteen outbreaks in the Western Cape Province, four outbreaks in KwaZulu-Natal Province, one outbreak in North West Province, one outbreak in Mpumalanga Province and one outbreak in Northern Cape Province.
