Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Health

Second case of H5N8 bird flu found in Hungary in a week, spreading around eastern Europe

A second outbreak of bird flu has been found at a large duck farm in eastern Hungary, the National Food Chain Safety Authority (NEBIH) said on Wednesday, two days after the first such case in the country in years.

The flu has spread in recent days in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. It is a highly pathogenic strain of the virus that reappeared in Poland in early January.

Hungary's NEBIH said the full duck stock at the farm, 115,000 birds, was being culled on suspicion of the virus, after the destruction of more than 50,000 turkeys earlier this week to contain the spread of the infection.

It said the virus is probably spreading as wild birds migrate and contaminate waterways used by farm birds.

The authority said that this strand of the virus was similar to one in an outbreak in 2016 in Hungary. It said poultry products in Hungary were safe to consume.

Hungary will also restrict transport to contain the virus, the authority said earlier this week, adding that the H5N8 strain had so far caused no human infections in Europe.

(Reporting by Marton Dunai, editing by Louise Heavens)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.