Bird flu update: Outbreaks at farms in Slovakia, Nepal and Bolivia, chickens vaccinated in Ecuador

Bird flu update: Outbreaks at farms in Slovakia and Nepal, chickens vaccinated in Ecuador
Sick chickens, photo: Canva

The H5N1 bird flu virus has been found on a farm in the western part of Slovakia, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday.

The outbreak near the town of Galanta killed 1,530 birds out of 5,665 at the farm, the WOAH said, citing information from Slovakian health authorities. The remaining birds at the farm who weren’t affected, were killed.

Nepal
The WOAH said that the H5N1 strain of bird flu had been found on a farm near the capital Kathmandu in Nepal. The disease killed 2,909 chickens; the other 7,500 chickens at the farm were killed.

Bolivia
Bolivia reported two outbreaks of bird flu: one outbreak was found on a chicken farm with 35,000 birds in the town of Sacaba and another in a backyard with 202 birds for domestic consumption, including ducks, geese and chickens, in the village of Quillacollo. All animals were killed.

Tens of millions of chickens, turkeys and other birds have been killed in outbreaks of bird flu in Europe in the past year, and the virus is spreading in Asia, the United States, South America and Africa.

The spread of the virus threatens bird meat supply, increases food prices and poses a risk of transmission to humans. In January, Ecuador reported its first human case of bird flu in a 9-year-old girl.

Ecuador
Ecuador is planning to vaccinate more than two million birds at farms to control the spread of the virus. The vaccination process will begin in the next two months, and Ecuador will import four million doses through a Mexican-Ecuadorian partnership, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Bernardo Manzano said.

Around 1.2 million birds have been killed in the country’s four provinces, according to official data.

   

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