EU member states have been congratulated for their response to the current spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) with all the affected countries seen as having taken the “necessary measures” to contain the virus.
Commenting in Brussels yesterday (Wednesday) on the HPAI outbreak, the EU’s Health & Food Safety Commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis, said he believed the European Commission (EC) had also “reacted promptly” to the situation.
“I call on Member States authorities, and the poultry sector, for extreme vigilance over this virus, and in particular the stepping up of biosecurity on poultry farms,” added Commissioner Andriukaitis (pictured above).
According to the EC’s own data, the virus has so far caused 56 outbreaks of HPAI on poultry farms in Hungary, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and The Netherlands, affecting a variety of poultry species (ducks, geese, turkeys, chickens) mainly in backyard farms.
In addition, the virus has also been found in wild birds in 10 Member States (Hungary, Poland, Germany, Croatia, Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Romania), as well as in Switzerland.
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