SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian veterinary authorities will cull 40,000 laying hens in the southeastern village of Krivo Pole after a bird flu outbreak was confirmed at an industrial farm there, the fifth since the start of the year, the food safety agency said late on Friday.
The agency said the farm had been hit by highly pathogenic avian influenza type A, but did not disclose the strain of the disease.
The predominant strain in Europe at present is H5N8.
Some 160,000 ducks and 154,000 hens have been culled at four other farms in the Balkan country since February as authorities try to contain the spread of the disease.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
