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“Today, the case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Lithuania has also been confirmed in a poultry farm, where 27 poultry (chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks) are raised for their own needs,” said the SFVS.
Suspicions of this disease arose in Kaunas, Petrašiūnai district, on a small farm in Amaliai district, after the sudden death of several chickens and turkeys. The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus was confirmed by examination of carcass samples in NMVRVI.
“Restriction and monitoring zones have been established around the affected farm, the remaining live birds will be safely destroyed and the farm will be cleaned and disinfected. Commercial poultry farms are not included in the restricted and control zones. SFVS Kaunas department are obliged to register all small bird housing areas that are within the restricted zone, which will be monitored, ”says the SFVS.
According to the service, this is the first case in the history of Lithuania in which avian influenza was detected in a poultry farm, at that time wild birds (mute swans) were diagnosed with this virus in 2017.
According to the Authority, research carried out by the National Institute for Veterinary and Food Risk Assessment (NMVRVI) has established that 4 dead mute swans found in Klaipėda and Raseiniai districts were infected with the H5 strain of avian influenza.
Although this strain of avian influenza does not pose a risk to human health, the risk of it spreading to poultry farms remains high. Therefore, bird owners and breeders are encouraged to protect their poultry from contact with wild waterfowl.
In 2020, the spread of the avian influenza virus in Europe, which affected both wild birds and poultry farms, killed almost 9 million people. poultry. Most European countries are battling this highly contagious disease.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in poultry farms in 16 European countries last year, with the largest outbreaks occurring in Hungary (273), Poland (51), France (35), Germany (29) and the United Kingdom (15 ). Isolated cases of this strain of avian influenza have been reported in other countries: 9 in the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Ukraine, 3 in Slovakia, 2 in Denmark, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania, and one in Belgium, Ireland and Croatia.
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