Wetenschappelijk artikelDeaths among Wild Birds during Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N8) Virus Outbreak, the Netherlands.

During autumn–winter 2016–2017, highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) viruses caused mass die-offs among wild birds in the Netherlands. Among the ≈13,600 birds reported dead, most were tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula) and Eurasian wigeons (Anas penelope). Recurrence of avian influenza outbreaks might alter wild bird population dynamics. Since 1996, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A viruses of the A/goose/Guangdong/1/96 lineage have caused major losses in the poultry industry worldwide and ≈800 confirmed human cases with a mortality rate of ≈50% (1,2). Wild waterbirds, the natural reservoir of low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses, are probably involved in long-distance spread of HPAI viruses (3,4). In May–June 2016, a novel reassortant of HPAI virus subtype H5N8 clade 2.3.4.4a was detected in diseased waterbirds in China (5) and on the border between Russia and Mongolia (6). In October 2016, a similar H5N8 strain was found in a dead mute swan (Cygnus olor) in Hungary (7). H5N8 viruses then spread rapidly across Europe, causing widespread death among wild waterbirds (8).