July 16, 2007

Czech authorities culls 70,000 birds to curb bird flu
 

Authorities in Czechoslovakia Friday (July 13) culled around 70,000 birds at two Czech poultry farms struck by the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Czech authorities have also decided to kill a further 70,000 birds, mostly chickens and turkeys, on three nearby farms even though bird flu has not been detected there. The latest bird flu cases were confirmed on Wednesday ( July 11).

Veterinary service spokesman Josef Duben said the two farms were in the centre of the country and were within an exclusion zone set up after the first cases of H5N1 were detected in domestic Czech poultry last month.

Duben said compensation for the latest cull is likely to be around 30 million koruna (US$1.46 million).

Decontamination of the poultry farms will continue over the weekend.

Czechoslavakia's outbreak was followed by outbreaks reported in France and Germany.