May 3, 2007

Bird flu measures cost Czech poultry breeders US$7.8 million

Brid flu cost poultry producers in the Czech Republic KC1 billion (US$7.8 million) last year, the country's business daily reported.

The country's State Veterinary Administration (SVS) announced last week it was lifting the remaining extraordinary measures as of May 1. Poultry breeders are expecting chicken prices to go up in the coming weeks.

However, the losses incurred were not just from bird flu or the bio-security measures implemented afterwards. Higher volumes of cheap poultry from southern European countries also affected the local poultry industry. Poultry sales in those countries nose-dived when bird flu broke out in their territories last year.

Poultry imports had increased by up to 20 percent, while prices had fallen by 15 percent, a local producer said.

The Czech Republic was the first in Europe to detect bird flu. It reported the first case in the autumn of 2005 and since then has reported a dozen cases of swans infected by bird flu.