HAMBURG (Reuters) – About 11,500 Turkeys have been culled after an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu on a farm in east Germany, German authorities said on Friday.
The disease was confirmed on a farm in Ostprignitz-Ruppin in the eastern state of Brandenburg, the Brandenburg state health ministry said.
What was believed to be the first case in Germany of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, this autumn was reported on Nov. 22.
Bird flu, which has led to the culling of hundreds of millions birds in recent years, usually strikes in Europe during autumn and winter. It has recently been detected on farms in several countries including France, the Netherlands, Italy, Croatia and Hungary.
To counter the disease, which has disrupted the supply of poultry meat and eggs and sent prices rocketing in parts of the world in recent years, France launched a vaccination campaign against bird flu in early October.
(Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by Susan Fenton)
