Hungarian farm culls 100,000 ducks after H5N8 bird flu detected

A total of 100,000 ducks was carried out at a poultry farm in Fuzesgyarmat, a town in southeastern Hungary, after bird flu was discovered there, wire service MTI reported on Monday.

This flu, type H5N8, is not known to have infected humans.

National chief veterinarian Lajos Bognar told MTI that the bird flu was found on only a single farm in Bekes County, albeit at all four of its sites. All birds on the farm, more than 100,000 ducks, were culled over the weekend and disinfection would take most of the week, Bognar said.

A 3 km-deep protected area and a 10 sq km area of observation have been set up around the farm. Animals on all farms within 3 km are undergoing thorough and repeated testing, and all poultry shipments from a 10 km area have been restricted.

It is believed that migrating birds coming north in the spring are responsible for spreading the virus.

The national bureau for Food Chain Safety reported that Japan, Singapore and South Korea have halted imports of poultry and eggs from Hungary, and South Africa and Hong Kong have introduced restrictions.

Hungarian officials have asked that the restrictions be limited to poultry and poultry products from Bekes County, which, said Bognar, has been put under a European Union duck-shipment quarantine by the Hungarian authorities. No ducks will be shipped from Bekes County for 30 days following complete disinfection of the area where the virus was found. Endit