June 1, 2006

Austria to lift ban on outdoor poultry

Austria is to lift a requirement to keep poultry indoors in parts of the country once considered to be at risk of the H5N1 bird flu virus, the country's top health official said Wednesday (May 31).

The decision, which will take effect Thursday, was made following consultations with experts and after 570 wild bird droppings tested negative for H5N1, Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat said in remarks provided by the ministry.

Earlier this month, authorities loosened a countrywide requirement to keep poultry indoors but kept it in place in some spots close to rivers and lakes where wild birds carrying the deadly strain had been found since February.

Other precautionary measures, such as indoor feeding, the fencing off of open water surfaces in the vicinity of chicken runs and separating chickens from geese, would stay in place, Rauch-Kallat said.

The last time a wild bird tested positive for the virus in Austria was Apr 26, Rauch-Kallat said.