Berlin
The first bird flu cases on a poultry farm this year has been detected in Germany’s northern state of Schleswig-Holstein following an outbreak among wild birds, the state’s Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday.
Bird flu of the type H5N8 was found among the wild bird population last week. The authorities have been calling on farm owners to take precautions.
“After several days of the bird flue raging among the wild bird population on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, a notifiable epizootic of the subtype H5N8 was confirmed on a poultry farm in the North Frisia region today by the authorities,” the ministry said.
Jan Philipp Albrecht, the state’s minister of agriculture, energy and environment, said that the situation shows that fast the bird flu outbreak can spread to farms. He also urged farm owners to make efforts for the protection of their birds from the virus.
The bird flu was found at a farm that housed 57 chickens on the Oland island. After eight chickens died in a short period of time, the rest were culled as envisioned by sanitary regulations.—AP
