OREANDA-NEWS. The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) reports that outbreaks of different strains of avian influenza (bird flu) were registered simultaneously in Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

In Vietnam, an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N6 influenza occurred in a village in the north of the country near the border with China. According to WOAH, 2,200 out of 2,500 infected poultry died, and the remaining 300 were destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease.

In Saudi Arabia, an avian influenza strain of H5N8 affected a poultry farm. As a result, 22.7 thousand birds died from the disease, and more than 385 thousand were destroyed in order to prevent the spread of infection outside the farm.

Cases of human infection with the H5N6 virus have been registered in China since 2014 more than 20 times; seven people died. The World Health Organization noted that transmission of the disease from human to human has not been identified.