Avian influenza Epidemiology group

Group photo

This group is part of the Epidemiology and Disease Control research group. Since 2020, we have been conducting research on the epidemiology of avian influenza. Our primary objective is to expand our understanding of the transmission dynamics of avian influenza in wild birds and poultry in Denmark, Europe, and globally.

Our work is closely linked to the contingency framework in DK-VET, where we assist Danish authorities by providing research-based knowledge on the risk of outbreaks and effective outbreak control. This includes identifying high-risk areas and periods, as well as developing novel epidemiological methods for surveillance.

 

 

ENIGMA2 - The ENIGMA2 project is a veterinary contingency project in the DKVET consortium, funded by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration.

PAIR - New EU Project Integrating Point-of-Care Diagnostics and Epidemiological Modeling.

LiRA – EFSA Living Risk Assessment Tool. An EFSA funded project to conduct work on risk assessment and data management of diseases.

ENIGMA – Early Warning System for Avian Influenza. A contingency project with the aim to build an early warning system for avian influenza in Denmark, focusing on the following objectives:

  1. Investigate the connection between foreign outbreaks and domestic cases of avian influenza, including migratory patterns and habitats of relevant bird species.
  2. Develop a continuous monitoring system for foreign avian influenza outbreaks, assessing the risk of introduction to Denmark.
  3. Expand the system to consider other risk factors, such as the introduction of migratory birds from other countries.
  4. Create a simulation model to estimate the risk of local spread of avian influenza within Denmark during outbreaks. 

ROFUS - Risikoanalyse og Overvågning af FUgle- og Svineinfluenza. Contingency research project during 2020-2021. The aim was to utilize existing data for monitoring avian and swine influenza with the following objectives:

  1. Conduct a spatio-temporal hotspot analysis to determine if positive samples from the 2012-2019 monitoring period are associated with specific areas.
  2. Correlate these hotspots spatially with natural habitats, meteorological data, etc., to investigate areas of highest risk for introduction and spread.
  3. Analyze the monitoring data to identify spatio-temporal cold spots (areas with low sample submissions) and assess if optimal coverage is achieved in Denmark. If not, identify areas where future samples should be focused. The analyses will consider both subtypes and groupings. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (FVST) has expressed a desire for these existing influenza data to be analyzed.

 

 

 

Researchers

Name Title Phone E-mail
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Anders Bjerrum Senior Consultant +4535324654 E-mail
Anette Ella Boklund Associate Professor +4535330847 E-mail
Carsten Thure Kirkeby Senior Researcher +4535337215 E-mail
Helene Ane Jensen PhD Fellow E-mail
Lene Jung Kjær Associate Professor +4535337290 E-mail
Mogens Madsen Special Consultant +4535324338 E-mail
Sandra Filipa Oliveira Carapeto PhD Fellow +4535335385 E-mail
Yangfan Liu Postdoc +4535323023 E-mail
Picture from the Avian Influenza Epidemiology Subgroup field trip to a bird locality on Stevns, Denmark, June 2023.