According to a January 8th 2021 posting on ProMED Mail officials in Senegal reported to the OIE an outbreak of H5N1 strain highly pathogenic avian influenza on a farm in Thies, near Dakar.  Approximately half of the 100,000-hen flock died with the remainder of 1st and 2nd cycle hens depleted by January 3rd. The outbreak was investigated on December 23rd 2020 and was confirmed by PCR on December 30th by the Department of Agriculture Veterinary Laboratory in the capital Dakar.

There was no indication of the source of the infection presumed to be migratory birds.

A previous outbreak of HPAI H5N1 in West Africa occurred in Togo, resulting in extensive depletion of flocks.