India has reported an H5N8 virus in Karnataka. It was confirmed among birds in the village of Itagi, in Hosapete taluk; all 1,593 of the birds at risk from the disease died or were culled.
The H5N8 bird flu strain has been found in several countries in Europe and West Asia in recent weeks, leading some states to order poultry flocks to be kept indoors.
The same virus had previously affected livestock in Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.
About H5N8:
The virus, H5N8, spreads through direct contact with secretions from infected birds, their feed, etc. So far there are no reported cases of H5N8 affecting people in India.
H5N8 is a subtype of the Influenza A virus (sometimes called bird flu virus). Although H5N8 is considered one of the lower pathogenic subtypes, it is beginning to become more so.
Many times, H5N8 is used as an incubator for the highly pathogenic H1N1.
On 27 October 2016, a H5N8 was reported in a wild swan in Hungary. Further reports were subsequently made from seven additional European countries. There were outbreaks in poultry and wild birds in Austria, Hungary and Germany.
There were reports of infection in wild birds only in Croatia, Denmark, Poland and Switzerland. In the Netherlands, H5N8 was in wild birds and birds in a zoo.
Outbreaks have also been reported in India, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan and Russia.
