Avian flu wreaks havoc on wild and captive bird flocks
The HPAI epidemic has spread far and wide
According to data collected by the World Organisation for Animal Health covering the most recent period of Oct 12th to Nov 10th, Europe is currently the region most impacted by HPAI (high pathogenicity avian influenza), with 105 outbreaks against 28 in the Americas and 8 in Asia. The number of culled captive birds this year is in the millions with laying hens are also being affected, which reduces egg supply. The epidemic ravages a poultry sector already reeling from a rising cost crisis, and in the UK the farming industry has been calling for government action to support a struggling sector.
Free range birds have been re-housed in indoor barns
Seasonality of the virus is well known and infections usually peak in February, which means that the current epidemic is far from over. Over the 4 weeks covered by the latest WOAH report, 140 outbreaks in poultry birds were reported globally, along with 110 non-poultry bird outbreaks, leading to the culling of 4.6 million birds. Some large UK retailers such as Tesco and ASDA have recently introduced egg rationing to prevent national shortages. It appears the egg industry is facing a perfect storm with the economic effects of high animal feed and energy prices compounded by a worsening epidemic.
In the UK the laying hen flock has been shrinking
The contraction of the flock in the UK has been partly attributed to farmers exiting the industry as prices paid to farmers have lagged rising production costs, but another reason has been the direct effect of the 2021/22 avian flu epidemic. Either retailers and industrial users increase the practice of indexing prices to production costs for struggling farmers, or more will have to exit the sector.
Keywords: high pathogenicity avian influenza, laying hens, epidemic, farming industry, free range birds, farmers, outbreaks, egg industry, animal feed, energy prices, retailers, Tesco, ASDA, production costs