Icon: enlarge
Poultry farm in the Netherlands after the bird flu outbreak last week
Photo: ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / picture alliance / dpa
Several wild birds in northern Germany have fallen victim to avian influenza, also known as bird flu.
As the Federal Ministry of Agriculture announced, the disease was detected in a wild duck in Hamburg, a common buzzard in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and various wild birds in Schleswig-Holstein.
The Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), responsible for animal health in Germany, confirmed this on Friday.
"So far there have only been individual cases," said the ministry.
The Ministry of Agriculture in Kiel and the Hamburg consumer protection authority had already informed about the cases in Hamburg and North Frisia on Friday.
Now the poultry farmers in the district of North Friesland have to move their stocks into stalls.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture urged poultry farmers nationwide to take precautionary measures and monitor their stocks.
The local authorities decided on specific measures.
With the outbreak of avian influenza in wild birds, there are no restrictions on trade.
The virus types H5N8 and H5N5 have been detected.
So far, no transmission of these types to humans is known, but dead birds should not be touched.
After the infected wild duck was found in Hamburg on Thursday, animal owners in the vicinity of the site were informed.
The measures to detect avian influenza in Hamburg have been stepped up, further precautions are currently not necessary, it said.
The animal made an injured impression and was put to sleep.
The Friedrich Loeffler Institute had confirmed that it was carrying the avian influenza virus H5N8.
Increased risk from bird migration
Avian flu is an infectious disease that occurs primarily in waterfowl and other birds.
It can run in poultry with severe symptoms and, according to the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, can also be transmitted to humans.
According to the Hamburg consumer protection authority, such cases have not yet been detected anywhere in the world.
A few days ago, avian influenza was detected in mute swans in the Netherlands.
At the beginning of October, FLI experts stated that the autumn migration of birds also increases the risk that the highly contagious bird flu viruses will be introduced into Germany.
The experts called for increased vigilance towards wild birds that are found sick or dead.
"The epidemic experts had warned us that bird flu was on the advance. Now the time has come and we have the first find. That is a cause for concern, but not a cause for panic," said Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus ( SPD).
In the summer, after outbreaks in Bulgaria and Hungary in Europe, bird flu had come to a standstill.
Icon: The mirror
mhe / dpa
