Another county ordered to keep poultry indoors over bird flu threat

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary’s chief veterinarian has instructed poultry farms in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County, in eastern Hungary, to keep their flocks indoors after an outbreak of bird flu in the country and several parts of Europe, the Szolnok city hall’s press chief said on Wednesday.

Last month, the chief veterinarian instructed poultry farms in Békés, Bács-Kiskun and Csongrád counties to take similar precautionary measures.

If poultry farmers in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County cannot arrange to keep their flocks indoors, they have to cover their poultry yards with adequate bird netting, Éva Gyuricska told MTI.

Wild birds are now also being monitored for bird flu after the H5N8 strain was identified in wild birds in Hajdu-Bihar and Komárom-Esztergom counties.

So far fifteen countries have introduced restrictions on the trade of live poultry and poultry products from Hungary due to the outbreak.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that the risk of infection could last until the spring of 2017 in several countries that have been hit with the strain, including Hungary.

Source: MTI