Retrospective Investigation of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Outbreaks in Iran During 2015-2021

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (hpai) is responsible for severe outbreaks in domestic and wild poultry. furthermore, the disease has zoonotic potential posing great risk to human’s health worldwide. in current study the spatial and temporal distribution of hpai outbreaks in iran during 2015 to 2021 were evaluated using the information obtained from the oie world animal health information database (wahis). during the period of study, 90 outbreaks were reported from 17 (54%) provinces. the highest number of outbreaks were reported from south khorasan province (28%) followed by mazandaran (14%). the outbreaks occurred throughout the year with no significant difference between two semesters (p>0.05). the majority of outbreaks occurred in domestic poultry (85%). the identified subtypes were h5n8 (90%) followed by h5n1 (3%) and h5n6 (1%). co-occurrence of h5n8 and h5n1 subtypes observed in 5% of outbreaks. the incidence of subtypes with zoonotic potential (h5n1, h5n6) pose a continued risk to public health. one health approach and inter-sectoral cooperation is recommended for early detection and reporting of hpai outbreaks with more focus on high-risk areas.