By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – Food and Agriculture Organization warned on Monday that the rapid spread of the highly infectious avian flu virus H5N1 has reached an “unprecedented” scale, wiped out hundreds of millions of birds worldwide and increasingly spilling over into mammals.
FAO officials called for urgent action to strengthen biosecurity, surveillance and rapid-response mechanisms to curb the outbreak.
The agency’s Deputy Director Godfrey Magwenzi stressed that the crisis threatens to have “serious impacts on food security and food supply in countries, including loss of valuable nutrition, rural jobs and income, shocks to local economies, and of course increasing costs to consumers.”
FAO said that millions relying on poultry for meat and eggs, the challenge is not only to contain the virus but also to protect food production systems.
According to the US Consumer Price Index the economic impact is also being felt worldwide such as egg prices reached a record high in the United States during February with farmers forced to slaughter over 166 million birds so far in total as avian flu has spread mostly egg-laying chickens.
Over 30 million birds in the US have been killed, according to news reports, FAO stated.
FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol underlined the need for a global, coordinated response, called H5N1 a “trans boundary” threat that no country can tackle alone.
FAO and the WHO have launched a ten-year Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza to address the crisis.
Ms. Bechdol said “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. By working together, we can reduce the impact of avian influenza and protect both animal and human health locally and globally”.
She said that over the past 4 years, H5N1 has expanded to new regions, causing massive losses in domestic birds, disrupting food supplies and pushing poultry prices higher.
Some 300 new wild bird species have been affected since 2021, posing a serious threat to biodiversity.
FAO reaffirmed its commitment to global monitoring, data sharing and technical guidance to help countries contain the virus.
Ms. Bechdol also stressed the importance of private sector engagement, particularly in developing vaccines, diagnostics and high-quality animal health services.
The agency called for funding proposals under the Pandemic Fund, hosted by the World Bank.
FAO has co-led dozens of Pandemic Fund projects to strengthen disease surveillance, early warning systems and health infrastructure to prevent future outbreaks.
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