(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, JANUARY 16 - After almost a month of efforts, bird flu is now "under control": the Israeli agriculture ministry has announced it.
It caused the death of 8,000 cranes in Lake Hula (upper Galilee) and necessitated the elimination of 600,000 hens and 360,000 turkeys distributed in about twenty farming areas, mostly in northern Israel.
The agriculture ministry added that it is making adequate preparations "to deal with the migratory wave" which will fly over Israeli territory starting in March.
Interezones are "cleaned, disinfected and monitored".
According to the ministry, cases of avian influenza occur every year in Israel "but this year - he specified - it has developed in an exceptional way and has included the H5N1 variant which is also dangerous for humans".
(ANSAmed).
