 |
| Screen Shot Bulgarian Food Safety Agency |
-
#12,879
It has been almost two weeks since we saw the OIE Notification: Two Outbreaks Of HPAI H5 in Bulgaria, which announced a relatively large outbreak (10K birds) of H5 avian flu in a commercial flock in the northeastern part of the country and in a small backyard flock in the south central region.
Overnight reports have appeared in the Bulgarian press indicating fresh outbreaks in the southern part of the country, which appears to be confirmed by the four new orders (see graphic above) issued by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency yesterday.These documents are photocopied into PDFs, making it impossible for me to translate, but they are dated 11/03/17 and appear on the Avian influenza Outbreak page. So far there are no new notifications on the OIE website.
What we do have are several (translated) news articles, describing several new outbreaks.
Bird flu will require the killing of more than 70 000 poultry in Yambol
Today, 11:27
Two outbreaks of bird flu in Yambol region - nearly 74,000 ducks and chickens reared in two industrial farms will be culled in the villages Zimnitsa and Charda.
Teams of the Regional Directorate for Food Safety work on the farm in the village Charda early morning. A disinfection of the premises where birds are kept. Taken all precautions to prevent spread of infection and in private yards. In the two-kilometer zone around the outbreaks will be tested all birds.
At roughly the same time, in Sliven - about 35 km north of Charda - we get this report.
They found a bird flu outbreak in Sliven
Author: news.bg
03.11.2017 17:51:51
An outbreak of bird flu is found in the village of Glushnik in Sliven. Regional Governor Chavdar Bozhurski calls an extraordinary meeting of the Regional Epizootic Commission on Monday, BNR reports.
The seizure and destruction of all the birds in the village began. According to preliminary data, between 400 and 1000 birds are grown in the village. Four teams of the Regional Directorate of Food Safety have been sent, assisted by the police and 15 associates.
The outbreak is from birds kept in a farm in the village, and the disease is confirmed by laboratory analysis. The premises where the birds are kept will be cleaned and disinfected. Disinfection is also provided for all vehicles, yards and streets.
The owners of the birds will be compensated in accordance with the Law on Veterinary Activities and the Ordinance on the conditions and procedure for spending the funds to cover the expenses related to the epizootic risks.
A fourth outbreak in the village of Straldzha is described in the following report from Bulgarian National Radio.
Thousands of birds will be destroyed in the Yambol municipality of Straldzha because of bird flu
published on 04.11.17 at 07:05 | updated on 04.11.17 at 11:43 Authors: Stoyan Radev - Cor. of the Bulgarian National Radio in Sliven, Daniela Kostova - Cor. of the Bulgarian National Radio in Yambol BGNES
Thousands of birds will be destroyed in two large poultry farms in the municipality of Straldzha because of a bird flu disease. In the two-kilometer area around the outbreaks, all birds will be examined.
Unconfirmed information will destroy over 70,000 birds in sites in the villages of Zimnitsa and Charda. The Directorate for Food Safety in Yambol has taken all the actions of the destruction and the places where the infected birds will be buried are already determined.
There are currently no reports of affected poultry but the Regional Epizootic Commission has warned that the risk of spreading the disease is very high. In the village of Glushnik in Sliven, where the first outbreak of bird flu was discovered, they destroyed the birds yesterday. Despite the quarantine, however, the village can enter and leave without any obstacles. On Monday, the Regional Epizootic Commission will decide what measures to take at an extraordinary meeting.
While HPAI H5N8 is a strong possibility, the only official descriptions of these new outbreaks in Bulgaria has been either HPAI H5 or `bird flu'. Hopefully we'll get an update with a full subtype in the next few days.
It's been exactly one year since Hungary reported their first outbreak of HPAI H5N8 at a commercial turkey farm, which quickly blew up into Europe's worst avian flu epizootic in history.Whether this is the start of a new European tour - or of a more limited, regional engagement - remains to be seen. But what is clear is that it is time for poultry interests across Europe to batten down their bio-security hatches.
Stay tuned.
