SCHWERIN, Germany (dpa): A group representing poultry farmers in Germany is pushing for greater protection of their flocks as bird flu spreads rapidly across the country.
The top priority must be to prevent the spread of the virus, protect animals and avert economic damage, said Georg Heitlinger from the Poultry Industry Association of the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg.
He called for a nationwide requirement to keep poultry indoors. Free-range poultry would have to be kept in closed barns or coops in accordance under such an official order.
Although the animal disease is prevalent in Germany all year round, the infection gains momentum with the autumn bird migration.
This year, migrating cranes have been particularly hard hit, but the highly contagious H5N1 virus has also been confirmed in other species such as wild geese and ducks.
Germany's Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) estimates that more than 200,000 chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys have been killed and disposed of in Germany so far this autumn following outbreaks of avian influenza.
The institute does not rule out the possibility that the infection will reach similar proportions to four years ago when more than 2 million animals had to be culled in the winter of 2020-21.
The FLI says 50 cases of infection have been registered nationwide in commercial poultry farms so far this year, 26 of them in October alone.
The number of animals killed as a precaution ranged from 5,000 to 93,000, and the peak of bird migration is still to come, the FLI said.
Farmers are compensated if the culling of animals is ordered after an outbreak, but under German law that may not exceed €50 ($60) per animal. Ducks and turkeys often fetch significantly higher prices on the market. - dpa
