From monitoring to confining chickens across entire countries: the EU protects itself against bird flu

Spain and Portugal since this Thursday, Belgium and the Netherlands for weeks: the danger of avian flu contagion has forced the confinement of outdoor poultry to prevent their contact with infected wild animals and avoid million-dollar losses, especially in the egg-laying poultry farming industry. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is an infectious viral disease of birds that can have serious consequences on the profitability of poultry farming, disrupting trade within the Union and exports to third countries, the European Union (EU) acknowledges. Migratory birds can spread these viruses over long distances during their autumn and spring migrations, and precisely this autumn, according to experts, many active outbreaks in central and eastern Europe have coincided with late migrations of cranes and other species due to high temperatures. According to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food this week, 59 outbreaks in poultry have been detected within ...