Berlin: Half a million birds have been killed in Germany due to an outbreak of avian influenza, the country’s animal health institute said on Monday.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) reported 30 outbreaks in poultry farms and 73 cases in wild birds since the beginning of September. In response, more than 500,000 chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys have been culled.
Thousands of livestock have been pre-emptively culled in several German states after FLI analyses confirmed infections with the highly contagious H5N1 avian influenza virus. Wild birds migrating to southern regions are identified as the main carriers of the virus. While the disease is now present in Germany year-round, the risk of infection increases sharply during the autumn migration.
The FLI noted that the current wave of infections has started earlier than usual. Cranes have been affected to an unprecedented extent, particularly in north-west Brandenburg, where they are dying in large numbers. The FLI figures are only a snapshot, as the situation is currently changing rapidly, an institute spokeswoman told dpa. A further 23 suspected cases are under investigation-22 in wild birds and one in farmed poultry. “More are to be expected,” the spokeswoman said.
Amid fears of price rises for chicken and eggs in Germany, there are increasing calls for poultry to be kept indoors to prevent infection from wild birds. Free-range poultry would then have to be temporarily kept in closed stables.