Poland: detected the fifth bird flu outbreak

On December 12, the Polish government announced the discovery of the fifth bird flu outbreak in the country. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of poultry at a farm in Vostov (Russia) died of H5N1 infection.

The new outbreak was identified after a stork and two hawks were killed by the H5N1 virus at a wild bird rehabilitation center near Orneta, northeastern Poland. The center is home to many endangered birds.

A Polish employee took measures against the spread of avian flu near Karniszyn, where poultry farms were infected with the H5N1 virus.(Photo: TTO)

Local authorities have set up a safety belt around this fifth outbreak.

The avian influenza epidemic with H5N1 has appeared in Poland since the beginning of December. To date, Poland has killed more than half a million poultry on the outbreak . According to Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki, bird flu has caused serious damage to the poultry industry in Poland due to epidemics occurring in a large concentration of poultry farms. The European Commission has issued a ban on the export of poultry from areas with epidemics in Poland.

Poland is one of Europe's leading poultry producers. In 2006, Poland supplied 230,000 tons of poultry to European markets.

Earlier in Russia, nearly 35,000 poultry died on a farm in Rostov, southern Russia. According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Reports, preliminary test results show that the cause of poultry death is the H5N1 virus. The local government said the area around Gulyai-Borisovka farm, which has flocks of up to 500,000 birds, was isolated.

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