Thousands of turkeys are to be culled on the Danish island of Lolland after highly pathogenic bird flu was detected in a flock in Stokkemarke.
Danish authorities will cull 27,000 turkeys in what is the country’s second confirmed bird flu outbreak in a week. The first outbreak was detected in a flock in Bøgelunde, in Slagelse Municipality.
Mette Kirkeskov Sie, head of animal health at the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, said: “It is therefore extra important at this time of year that everyone who keeps poultry or other birds does everything to prevent contact between their animals and wild birds.”
Poultry owners are advised to keep wild birds away from their flocks, as well as from their feed and drinking water. The agency also recommends changing footwear before entering areas where poultry are kept to help reduce the risk of spreading the infection.
Following the detection of the virus in a flock on Lolland, authorities have established protection and surveillance zones around the affected premises. Poultry keepers within these zones must comply with stricter biosecurity and disease prevention measures.
The restrictions will remain in place until authorities have completed their investigations and determined that the risk of further transmission has sufficiently decreased.