Bonn, 13 July 2023 – The Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds – co-convened by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) – has sounded the alarm on the current near-global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and the unparalleled scale of mortality among wild birds. Among other recommendations, the Task Force urges countries to consider HPAI as a conservation issue, plan accordingly and avoid culling measures of wild birds. It also calls for a ‘One Health’ approach to ensure appropriate cross-sectoral attention to human, animal and environmental health.

The Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds was established in 2005 by CMS in close cooperation with the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). It aims to bring together the best scientific advice on the conservation impact of the spread of avian influenza and to assess the role of migratory birds as vectors of the virus.

In its latest statement released today, the Task Force provides a global situation update highlighting the current spread of HPAI from Asia and Europe into the Americas. This is not only causing extensive outbreaks and mortality events among wild birds but also among mammals such as foxes, seals and dolphins that consume dead and infected wild birds. The extent and scale of the outbreaks are having significant consequences for the conservation of multiple species. The repercussions are particularly alarming for globally threatened species, including a number of crane species. The large-scale loss of breeding adults among long-lived seabirds has the potential for significant longer-term impacts on their populations.

The virus originated in the poultry sector two decades ago and has since jumped back and forth between wild and domestic settings. The increase in HPAI pandemics is associated with the growth and intensification of the poultry sector, prompting calls for reforms to poultry production systems to help mitigate further risks. Given the scale of current outbreaks, HPAI must now be seen as not just a threat to poultry production, livelihoods and economies but also a significant threat to wildlife – and a major conservation issue.

The Task Force’s statement provides further key observations and recommendations:

• HPAI H5N1 is now having population-level consequences for numerous bird species around the world.
• Many countries have been caught off-guard and are ill-prepared for dealing with wildlife outbreaks of HPAI. Although government departments of agriculture usually deal with HPAI responses, there is now a clear need for environment departments to take responsibility for the disease in wildlife.
• To ensure preparedness and speed up responses to outbreaks, contingency and response plans should be urgently developed. These should aim to minimize impacts on wildlife and involve a wide cross-sectoral range of stakeholders from citizen scientists, ecologists and NGOs, to government agencies and others.
• The Task Force reminds authorities of their international obligations to ensure their response to the pathogenic virus does not include the culling of wild birds, nor actions that would cause damage to natural ecosystems, especially wetlands.
• Current surveillance and research efforts have largely focused on the role of wild birds in relation to poultry risks – there is now a clear need for enhanced efforts to preserve wildlife populations and answer urgent questions about longer-term impacts of the disease and activities that can reduce risks.
• There are a range of actions that governments can take to help protect wildlife. These include ramping up wider conservation efforts and improved protection of wild habitats to increase resilience to the disease.

The latest statement of the Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds can be found here: https://www.cms.int/en/publication/h5n1-high-pathogenicity-avian-influenza-wild-birds-unprecedented-conservation-impacts