More than half a million birds have been culled in Germany in an attempt to contain the spread of bird flu, according to an official tally issued on Monday amid increasing calls for a nationwide lockdown of poultry farms.
Since the beginning of September, 31 outbreaks have been detected on farms, which have been forced to cull their birds, according to the Germany’s national research centre for animal diseases, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI).
In Neutrebbin, near Berlin, a farm has had to euthanise around 50,000 chickens since the outbreak began, dumping them by the hundreds into a lorry trailer with the help of a backhoe loader.
‘The situation is changing so rapidly that the figures are only a snapshot and illustrate the scale of the epidemic rather than exact totals,’ said an FLI spokeswoman.
The most affected states are Lower Saxony (centre), with eight outbreaks, Brandenburg (east) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (north-east), with six outbreaks each. In addition, 96 cases have been recorded among wild birds, including 20 new cases this weekend, the institute added.
The number of wild birds that have died from avian influenza cannot be quantified.
In many federal states, preventive measures have been stepped up, with isolation requirements for certain farmers.
But a nationwide lockdown would be much more effective, Hans-Peter Goldnick, president of the German Poultry Industry Association, said in an interview with public television station ZDF.
This is a matter for the federal states, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture replied at a press conference on Monday, confirming the comments made by Minister Alois Rainer on Friday.
If politicians continue to procrastinate, the price of eggs and poultry will keep rising, Robert Schmack, president of the Bavarian Poultry Industry Association, said on Monday on radio.
