EU: Avian influenza is on the rise

An infection in wild birds was reported in Sweden, as well as on the German North Sea coast. Livestock populations are also already affected in five EU countries. In the Netherlands, for example, 65,000 laying hens on a farm in the particularly poultry-rich province of Utrecht were culled after the infestation was discovered. This means that the country will lose its “HPAI-free” status, which it only regained in September. In addition to banning the transport of eggs, poultry and used litter in the affected region, the government in The Hague imposed a nationwide requirement for stables, as Agra-Europe reported. “Increased risk” also in Austria Outbreaks in commercial livestock populations have also been recorded in Denmark, Italy, Romania and Hungary, as well as in Great Britain. In Austria, wild birds that died of avian influenza were recorded in Lower Austria, Burgenland and most recently in Carinthia in ...