The World Organization for Animal Health was informed of an outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) on October 25th in Bulgaria, involving a flock of 19,000 chickens.  Neither the serotype of the virus nor the type of birds was disclosed.

According to the European Food Safety Authority, the 2021-2022 HPAI epornitic has involved 2,467 outbreaks in the E.U. with 47.7 million birds culled.  Approximately 3,500 cases of AI were diagnosed in free-living birds in 37 nations.

In contrast to previous epornitics widespread mortality has occurred in free-living species. These include colonies of sea birds, including gannets off the coast of Brittany, France and barnacle geese from Svalbard, Norway in Scotland. Other noteworthy cases include cranes in Israel and India, penguins in South Africa and crows in many nations. Avian influenza viruses that have been isolated were characterized as belonging to clade 2.3.4.4b with seven genotypes.