Germany, Portugal face avian influenza outbreaks
The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) reported on Wednesday that outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus have struck farms in Germany and Portugal.
The outbreaks have led to the deaths of more than 1,000 poultry across the affected farm, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
On Sept. 1, an outbreak of avian influenza or bird flu occurred at a farm in Hadenfeld, northern Germany, affecting 2,800 laying hens. Of these, 100 died, and the rest were culled.
On Sept. 2, a farm in Samora Correia, near Lisbon, also reported an avian influenza outbreak, affecting over 250,000 fattening ducks, with 1,011 deaths, and the remaining ducks were culled.
The sources of infection in both outbreaks have not been determined.
The WOAH said that migratory birds, especially waterfowl, are natural hosts and carriers of the avian influenza virus. Avian influenza is also a major public health concern, as sporadic human cases of avian influenza have been reported. When outbreaks occur in domestic birds, the policy is often to cull all poultry, whether infected or not, in order to contain the spread of the virus.
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