On 21 March 2025, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a report on the circulation of avian influenza between December 2024 and March 2025.
EFSA noted a "significant increase" in virus detections in wild birds in recent months, following the "exceptionally low" numbers recorded in 2023-2024. This situation, which is expected to continue "for several years", is accompanied by an increase in outbreaks in poultry breeding.
As a result, EFSA recommends several measures:
- Do not establish poultry farms near wetland areas and reduce farm density in these regions;
- Maintain high biosecurity standards;
- Implement preventive vaccination and enforce confinement orders based on risks or confinement systems that keep poultry indoors, while maintaining high welfare standards.
Additionally, in the outbreaks where mortality rates have been reported, these ranged from 0.01% to 24.7% in poultry and from 0.6% to 75.5% in ducks and geese. EFSA clarified that rates exceeding 5% may indicate late detection. Finally, the genotype associated with 90% of poultry outbreaks since October 2024 is EA2023-DI, according to EFSA.