Poultry farmers from Arctic to Portugal reported 2,500 outbreaks in past year, with migrating birds taking avian flu to North America
. The virus reached breeding colonies of sea birds on the north Atlantic coast, killing huge numbers.
In past years, outbreaks of avian flu declined with warmer weather and the end of migration by wild birds in the autumn and winter.that highly pathogenic variants of avian flu are now endemic in wild birds, creating a risk of infection all year. From June to September, the number of outbreaks in domesticated birds was more than five times higher than the same period last year. Experts say all kinds of bird species have become infected now, causing the virus to remain.
Outbreaks have also crossed the Atlantic Ocean, spreading from Europe to North America along migration routes and leading to