Vienna, October 2025 – This year’s avian influenza season started unusually early and at an alarming rate, with outbreaks reported in the United States, Japan, and several European countries, where unprecedented levels for this time of the year have been observed. The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain is also suspected to have reached Australia for the first time, following the discovery of hundreds of dead seal pups on sub-Antarctic Heard Island. The rapid spread has sparked fears of a new avian influenza crisis. Since the avian influenza season began in October, the virus has taken a heavy toll on animals, resulting in the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of poultry birds worldwide and a significant loss of wildlife. According to data from the World Organisation for Animal Health, approximately 907,222 poultry birds either died or were killed due to the highly pathogenic virus in September, most of them in the Americas.

While biosecurity, monitoring and surveillance, movement control and vaccinations are important tools to contain outbreaks of avian influenza, they don’t address the underlying causes, the global animal welfare organisation emphasises.

Data indicates that the intensification of farming since 1940 has been linked to more than half of all zoonotic diseases in humans. “To protect human and animal health, prevention at the source is key. We urge all governments to sign, ratify and implement the Pandemic Agreement after it is open for signature. By embracing the One Health approach, the Pandemic Agreement represents the first legally binding instrument to recognise the deep interconnection between human, environmental health and animal welfare. It captures binding commitments to help prevent the spillover of pathogens, before humans and animals suffer,” adds Jamal.