Avian influenza reaches Slovakia
Slovak authorities confirmed overnight that two of the birds they were testing for the avian influenza virus, are infected with the H5 component of the virus.
One tested in Bratislava city (mergus albellus, ‘smew’ in English, ‘Harle Piette’ in French, from the family of ducks, geese and swans) and one in Gabcikovo, district of Dunajska (a hawk).
Samples will be sent to the Community Reference Laboratory for avian influenza in Weybridge for further tests to determine if this is the H5N1 virus.
Slovak authorities have stated that they are now following established guidelines in reference to avian influenza outbreaks.
Current guidelines:
The measures consist of the establishment of a high risk area (a 18 mile, 3 km protection zone) around each of the suspected avian influenza outbreaks and a surrounding surveillance zone of 6 miles (10 km) (which includes the protection zone).
In the protection zone, poultry must be kept indoors, movement of poultry is banned except directly to the slaughterhouse and the dispatch of meat outside the zone is forbidden except where products have undergone the controls provided for in EU food controls legislation (i.e meat sourced from healthy animals in registered farms, subject to ante and post-mortem checks by vets in the slaughterhouse).
In both the protection zone and the surveillance zone, on-farm bio-security measures must be strengthened, hunting of wild birds is banned and avian influenza awareness of poultry owners and their families must be carried out.