December 16, 2022

 

Czech Republic bans outdoor poultry farming due to bird flu

The Czech Republic's State Veterinary Administration (SVS) has announced a nationwide ban on outdoor poultry farming to tackle the spread of highly pathogenic bird flu in the country, the Macau News Agency reported.

 

The ban prohibits keeping poultry outdoors with the exception of runner ducks and pigeons, according to a statement from the SVS.

 

Farmers who are unable to keep their flocks indoors are instructed to restrict their flocks' outdoor space and limit their contact with wild birds.

 

Since December 1, the SVS has reported six additional bird flu outbreaks in the Czech Republic. On a factory farm in the South Bohemian region of the country, Czech veterinarians earlier this month culled about 15,000 ducks.

The SVS said it was a highly pathogenic variant of the avian influenza H5N1 subtype, which can potentially be transmissible to humans. The SVS urged poultry farms to limit human movement to only activities absolutely necessary to ensure the proper care of poultry.

 

Zbynek Semerad, SVS Central Director, said they appeal to all poultry breeders to strictly observe the ordered emergency veterinary measures in their own and public interest, adding that farmers follow the biological safety principles in farms.

 

Semerad also said changes in health status or increased farm deaths must be reported to the regional veterinary administration immediately.

 

The SVS said that the number of new bird flu outbreaks in Europe is increasing. The Czech Republic had not detected an outbreak in seven months, despite the fact that the country had experienced several outbreaks in recent years.

 

An outbreak at a factory farm in the country's central Pardubice region resulted in the culling of over 100,000 poultry in February 2020.

 

-         Macau News Agency