Poland

Avian flu resurfaces in Poland

Poultry

7 outbreaks have been reported since late December in turkey, quail and chicken farms.

Posted on Jan 07 ,09:23

Avian flu keeps spreading to Poland, with 7 cases reported in the last two weeks in poultry farms in different regions of the country. So far, almost 100,000 birds were affected in turkey, quail and chicken farms. "Three Polish regions are affected – Lubartowski, Ostrowski and Krasnostawski. Highly pathogenic bird flu (H5N8 subtype) has been found in seven domestic bird enclosures: three large turkey enclosures (49 189 turkeys in total), one hen enclosure (36 069 laying hens in total), one quail enclosure (12 960 quails in total), and two home farms with 79 birds of different species – laying hens, ducks, geese and pigeons", informs the Polish Veterinary Service. Birds in the affected enclosures have been put down and burned. Poland is the largest poultry producer in the EU and the world's third-largest poultry exporter. The last case of avian flu in Poland was reported two years ago.
By now, neighboring Belarus has established a ban for poultry imports from the regions impacted by the virus and the Latvian veterinary authority has urged poultry farmers in the Baltic country to take biosafety measures to protect their birds after reports of an avian flu outbreak in Poland.

The Latvian Food and Veterinary Service informed that neither domestic nor decorative birds have been imported from Poland in the past month and that turkeys from the flu-affected farms in Poland have not reached the food chain. Latvia has so far remained free of avian flu.

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