Spain destroyed more than 17,000 H5N8 suspected ducks

Spanish authorities announced that they would destroy more than 17,000 ducks after discovering the strain on a duck farm in Catalonia.

Ms. Meritxell Serret, agriculture manager in Northeast Spain, confirmed that the influenza virus detected at the aforementioned duck farm near the city of Girona, northeastern Catalonia, is the H5N8 virus , coinciding with the virus that appears in the stock. Hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese were recently destroyed in southwestern France.

Spain destroyed more than 17,000 ducks suspected of contracting H5N8 bird flu.(Photo: EPA / VNA).

Catalonia health authorities are conducting quarantine on farms within a 3km radius from the farm that detected the H5N8 virus above to determine whether the strain of the virus has spread to surrounding areas. There are also a total of 9 farms in the region that are under special supervision as a preventive measure against the H5N8 virus from spreading.

Meanwhile, Joan Guix in charge of public health in Catalonia assured the people, insisting that the H5N8 virus "does not spread to humans".

Earlier, Spanish authorities only discovered H5N8 on 3 wild birds in this country. This is a strain of virus that can spread rapidly in infected farms, causing thousands of poultry to be destroyed.

According to the World Animal Health Organization, in the first two months of this year alone, 24 European countries with China, Egypt, Cameroon and India recorded cases of poultry infected with H5N8 virus. Since the outbreak in October last year, the flu has had a negative impact on poultry farming in affected countries when thousands of poultry have been destroyed.

South Korean officials also confirmed the destruction of chickens and ducks to more than 10 million, and said it was the most serious bird flu outbreak in Asia since 2014.