Avian influenza is spreading rapidly in Germany, raising concerns for both livestock and wild birds during the peak migration season, authorities warned on Friday.
Infections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) have surged over the past two weeks, Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer announced during a briefing. The top priority is to stop the further spread of the virus, protect animals, and shield agriculture and the food industry from potential harm, he added.
Wild birds are also under threat, with cranes being affected for the first time, according to the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), Germany’s leading animal health body.
Due to crane migrations and the movement of other wild birds, other widespread outbreaks of HPAI are likely in the near future, the FLI warned. It has now classified the outbreak risk as “high.”
Near Linum, outside Berlin, volunteers dressed in protective suits and masks collected dozens of dead cranes, later loading them into a large mechanical shovel, an AFP photographer reported.
Helge May, spokesperson for the environmental association Nabu, told AFP that the previously estimated figure of 240,000 birds culled in Germany has “probably already been exceeded.”
The risk to human health is low, but authorities are urging the public to avoid contact with sick or dead animals, as transmission to humans remains a possibility.
A report from the French animal health surveillance platform ESA on Tuesday revealed that cases of HPAI have been identified in 22 European countries since August.
