Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – Due to the risk of infection with avian influenza, the Hessian Ministry of the Environment warns against participating in animal shows, markets or similar events. “Currently, numerous outbreaks of avian influenza in breeding poultry farms are being detected in Germany. The sources of entry are very often exhibitions,” the ministry said on Thursday in Wiesbaden. Due to the gathering of birds from many different animal husbandries, there is a high risk of spreading the highly contagious animal disease.
On Wednesday, the second detection of avian influenza in Hesse in the current winter half-year was confirmed. A company in Münchhausen in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district is affected. The infection was probably brought in via a poultry exhibition in North Rhine-Westphalia. In the meantime, stocks in other federal states from which poultry was presented at the exhibition are also affected.
To protect animals from infection, direct and indirect contact with domestic and wild birds must be avoided, the ministry said. In particular, wild birds should not be allowed access to feed, bedding and objects that could come into contact with domestic poultry. Poultry are not allowed to drink from bodies of water that wild birds have access to. Poultry farmers would have to register their stocks with the competent veterinary authority if they had not already done so. Dead animals must also be reported.
