A farm in the Czech Republic has ordered the culling of 750,000 chickens – 15 percent of the country’s total chicken population – as Europe scrambles to contain its biggest bird flu outbreak ever, authorities said on January 4.
The chicken farm that ordered the culling of the birds is located in the village of Brod nat Tichou, and is one of the largest farms in the Czech Republic.
In recent weeks, some Czech farms have also been affected by the virus that is wreaking havoc on farms across the European Union.
“The situation is very serious. Ten new outbreaks have been registered in December in Čeku and the situation is getting worse,” the state veterinary administration, SVS, said in a statement.
SVS has recorded four new outbreaks this year, and the price of eggs has increased due to the destruction of poultry in Brod and Tichou.
Last month, Czech farmers were ordered to keep their poultry indoors in order to prevent the highly transmissible H5N1 virus, which can also be transmitted to humans.
European health authorities warned last month that the continent is facing the “most serious” outbreak of this virus, as millions of birds have been killed.
Nearly 2,500 outbreaks have been recorded on farms in 37 European countries from October 2021 to September 2022, and as a result of the outbreaks, around 50 million poultry have been destroyed.
Health authorities are studying the possibility of using vaccines to prevent the spread of the virus.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has said that the risk of people becoming infected is low, and the risk is “low to moderate” for people who work with poultry and poultry.