Following reports of H5N8 strain avian influenza in turkeys, authorities in Poland have diagnosed the same strain in egg producing flocks.  In addition to a farm close to the turkey outbreaks, chickens have been affected in the Lubelskie, and Wielkopolskie regions.  It is apparent that there is a high concentration of poultry farms in the Lubelskie region with the prospect of further cases emerging.

Biosecurity has been intensified but given the season and previous history, further outbreaks can be expected if migratory waterfowl are shedding the virus.

Unlike previous years outbreaks in 2020 involve H5N8 strain that is potentially transmissible to humans under conditions that have not been clearly defined.