Thijs Kuiken
@thijskuiken
Professor of Comparative Pathology at Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. I study emerging viral diseases according to the One Health approach, and transformative change of society for a sustainable future.
Australian government publishes H5 bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza) risk analysis to better understand the potential impacts of the virus on native birds and mammals in Australia. www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/...
2 August 2026: Currently confirmed and suspected detections of H5 bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza) in wild birds in state of South Australia, which has the highest number of detections at the moment. www.birdflu.sa.gov.au/current-situ...
When I read about Greater Crested Terns (Thalasseus bergii) dying from highly pathogenic avian influenza in Australia, I have to think of the closely related Sandwich Terns (Thalasseus sandvicensis) that suffered mass mortality from the same disease in Europe in 2022. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
Besides Greater Crested Terns, the resident Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) now also affected by H5 bird flu in Australia. “Three Silver gulls were also suspected positive, adding to the first Silver gull found a few days ago and confirmed positive.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
1 August 2026: 52 confirmed detections of H5 bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza) in wild birds in Australia. Number of affected Greater Crested Terns increasing rapidly, indicating an epidemic in that species. www.agriculture.gov.au/campaigns/bi... www.michellewille.com/avian-influe...
28 July 2026: Testing at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) has confirmed H5 bird flu in 7 greater crested terns found in South Australia, including 5 at one location, Southend. That is an 'unusual mortality event' in my dictionary. www.agriculture.gov.au/about/news/H...
24 July 2026: This is the first suspected case of HPAI H5 in Queensland, following 17 positive cases in states of Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales in June and July 2026.
24 July 2026: Dead 'petrel' found on Moreton Island, Queensland, tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 at state lab and sent on to federal lab for confirmation. On which date the wild bird was found and which species it is are not stated. www.dpi.qld.gov.au/news-media/n...
17 July 2026: Second confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 reported in New Zealand in a swamp harrier (Circus approximans) found in the Wairarapa region, located in the southeast corner of North Island, near to where the first case was found. www.beehive.govt.nz/release/bird...
15 July 2026: After several cases in Australia, now the first detection in New Zealand of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5 in a wild bird. It was a brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) found at Petone Beach, near Wellington, North Island, New Zealand. www.beehive.govt.nz/release/h5-b...
How can stuffed animals help to engage the public about human impact on nature conservation? Tomorrow (Tuesday, 7 July) at 18:00 CET, Dr. Katie O'Dwyer will speak on so-called 'ethical taxidermy' at the EWDA Sustainability Webinar. Don't miss it! Scan the QR code to register for the Zoom webinar.
New suspected case of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) in a giant-petrel (not stated whether northern or southern) at Esperanza, Western Australia. One other suspected case and three confirmed cases of bird flu in recent days, making five in total. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) detected in a blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) in Quepos City, Costa Rica. First report of HPAI in Costa Rica since October 2023. wahis.woah.org#/in-review/7...
On Heard Island (external territory of Australia in southern Indian Ocean), it is now estimated that about 13,000 of a total of 17,000 southern elephant seal pups (over 75%) died from highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 (bird flu) in the 2025/2026 breeding season. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Birds with confirmed infection so far are a brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) and a northern giant-petrel (Macronectus halli) found near Esperance, Western Australia, and a southern giant-petrel (Macronectus giganteus) found at Port Eliot, South Australia. (2/6)
The anticipated arrival of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 ('bird flu') into the continental region of Oceania has now taken place. (1/6) offlu.org/wp-content/u...
Upcoming event: EWDA Network Meeting "Improving wildlife mortality reporting to better understand population-level disease impact". Monday, 28 September 2026, from 15:00 to 16:30 CET. Registration via this link: ewda2026.co.rs/ewda-network...
... het beperken van het aantal en de grootte van pluimveebedrijven in pluimveedichte gebieden en waterrijke gebieden, en de toepassing van sneltesten om vogelgriep aan te tonen bij pluimvee en wilde vogels. Er zijn 11 bijlagen bij de kamerbrief, veel om de komende dagen te lezen. 3/3
Net verschenen: Kamerbrief Voortgangsrapportage intensiveringsplan preventie vogelgriep van ministeries van LVVN en VWS. Daarin informatie over hoog-pathogene vogelgriep in pluimvee, wilde vogels, katten en melkkoeien in Nederland, ... 1/3 open.overheid.nl/details/ec60...
Vogelgriep (waarschijnlijk hoog-pathogeen) vastgesteld op een pluimveebedrijf (55.000 leghennen) in Biddinghuizen, Flevoland. Alle dieren worden gedood. In 10 km omtrek zijn er 25 andere pluimveebedrijven. www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/...
Een podcast over hoog-pathogene vogelgriep, pluimvee en wilde vogels: studioplantaardig.nl/Podcast/112-...
Vogelgriep in een houderij met 14.000 vleeskuikens in Oudemolen. Een herinnering dat allerlei typen pluimveehouderij (vleeskuikens, leghennen, kalkoenen, enz.) in Nederland risico lopen, niet alleen leghennen, de enige type waarvoor vaccinatie besproken wordt. www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieu...
Ethics considerations aren’t the only reasons to shut down mink farms. More than any other farmed species, mink pose a risk for the emergence of future disease outbreaks and the evolution of future pandemics. See this article by Tom Peacock and Wendy Barclay in @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
Het vaststellen van hoge concentraties PFAS in regenwormen in Nederland roept ook de vraag op in hoeverre de gezondheid van wilde dieren met veel regenwormen in hun dieet wordt aangetast, b.v. merels, mollen, dassen. #OneHealth www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...
Just published: Avian influenza overview December 2025–February 2026. Recommended, even just for this figure showing virus detections in wild birds found dead in Europe between 2020 and 2026. Note the high level of detections in waterfowl during the past winter. www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajourn...
Deze dia uit mijn voordracht 'Infectieziektebestrijding: bedreiging door ecologische disruptie' geeft de essentie weer: de planeet Aarde is ziek ...
Vogelgriep vastgesteld in een pluimveebedrijf met 97.450 (!) vleeskuikenouderdieren in Neede, gemeente Berkelland, Gelderland. Alle dieren worden gedood. www.rijksoverheid.nl/ministeries/...
11 March: CMS Webinar on Health and Migratory Species - Bridging Conservation and Health. Speakers: Amy Fraenkel. Ruth Cromie, Marcela Uhart, Craig Stephen, and Christian Walzer. @cms.int Further information and registration here: www.cms.int/webinar-health
Vogelgriep vastgesteld in een pluimveebedrijf (23.000 leghennen) in Ede (gemeente Ede), Gelderland. In 10 km omtrek zijn 130 (!) andere pluimveebedrijven. Deze uitbraak is extra zorgelijk omdat de pluimveedichtheid in Ede erg hoog is, dus meer risico op virusverspreiding naar andere bedrijven.