Influenza A virus subtype H5N6

In November and December human cases of H5N6 were reported in China.[4] From October to December four outbreaks were also reported in China, resulting in the culling of over 170,000 birds.[5] In December, H5N6 avian influenza was reported in bird droppings in Hong Kong.[6]

In December, South Korea raised its bird flu alert to highest level for the first time.[7]

An Australian test confirmed that the August 2017 bird flu outbreak in Pampanga was of the subtype H5N6.[8]

Coinciding with the new coronavirus pandemic, H5N6 caused the deaths of 1,840 of 2,497 birds at a poultry farm in China's Sichuan province.[9]

25,000 birds were culled in total in a Philippines poultry outbreak. A 7-mile zone constricting poultry movement was also established.[10]

The first human case reported outside of China was detected in Laos. A five-year-old boy from Luang Prabang Province tested positive after being exposed to poultry.[11]

At least 16 isolated cases were reported in China between July and September 2021, including a case in a 26-year-old woman from Guilin who died.[12][13] On 3 October, the World Health Organization said wider surveillance was urgently required to better understand the risk and the recent increase of spill over to humans.[2]

On October 26, 2021, Thijs Kuiken, a professor of comparative pathology at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, said the rise in human cases could be explained by a new variant which is "a little more infectious" to people.[14]