EN
The aim of the paper is to describe outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) caused by H5N1 subtype in December 2007 in Poland. Between 1st-22nd of December, the H5N1 virus was detected in 9 poultry holdings (2 meat turkey holdings, 3 commercial layer farms and 4 free-ranging flocks) and in wild birds kept in captivity (2 buzzards and 1 white stork in an avian asylum). Laboratory diagnostic methods included real time RT-PCR targeting Matrix H5 and N1 genes, with subsequent confirmation by virus isolation, serological identification, conventional RT-PCR and sequencing. All outbreaks occurred in the Mazowieckie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodships. The clinical signs in poultry were typical of HPAI, but the average mortality was rather low (usually below 1%) due to rapid reporting, diagnosis and quickly applied control measures. Epidemiological investigation revealed that the meat from one turkey flock and eggs from one layer flock entered the market. All poultry products from the infected farms were withdrawn from the shops and wholesalers and destroyed. As an effect of the applied control measures, approximately 1 million birds were culled and the economical losses exceeded 12 mln PLN. The source of the outbreaks is inconclusive: possibly wild birds in the case of the first infected farms, but the role of humans in the further spread of the disease across the country is probable and based on reliable assumptions. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis based on the haemagglutinin gene suggests a close relationship of the Polish isolates to H5N1 isolated in Europe and Middle East in the second half of 2007.