Over 18,000 birds affected by avian flu at Maramures farm

Over 18,000 birds have been affected by the avian flu at a farm in the town of Sieni, Maramures county (northern Romania), the diseased birds to be sacrificed. The Maramures Local Committee for Disease Prevention (CLCB) gathered after the confirmation of the disease by the Institute for Animal Diagnosis and Health of Bucharest, the spokesperson of the Maramures Prefecture, Dan Buca, informs in a press release sent on Wednesday to AGERPRES. "The plan of measures to combat the avian influenza outbreak was approved. Specific measures were taken, in accordance with the provisions of the laws regarding the situation management. The situation is managed by specialists, the measures necessary for preventing the spread of the disease were taken, namely biosecurity measures. The diseased birds will be incinerated. The feed and other materials that bear the disease were destroyed," said prefect Nicolae-Silviu Ungur, quoted in the release. According to the source, the Veterinary and Food Safety Directorate proceeded to inform veterinarians, companies with the same profile in the region, the population, but also the medical staff in the area about the disease, as well as about the specific measures that must be taken. "An area of protection and one of bird supervision were established, and they are monitored by specialists. Bird movement in the protection area is restricted, in agreement with the European legislation. The products of the company were recalled. After incineration and mechanic cleaning, disinfection and pest control procedures will be executed, in accordance with the operational manual. The H5N8 virus does not affect the health of humans and we ask the population to not panic and respect the prophylaxis measures recommended by doctors," the release also shows. AGERPRES (RO - author: Leontin Cupar, editor: Oana Popescu; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Maria Voican)