The European Commission has announced that it has received reports of Avian Influenza in Romania and Turkey.
Go deeper with GlobalData
In the evening of Friday 7 October, the Commission services were informed of a suspicion of Avian Influenza in Romania, it said. The suspicion has arisen in a backyard flock with 53 chickens/hens and 47 ducks located in the municipality of Ceamurlia-de-Jos in the Danube Delta region, at a distance of 100 Km from the border with Bulgaria). In this flock 40 ducks and 1 chicken have died, while the other poultry (mainly chickens/hens) had no clinical signs of disease. All other poultry in the farm have already been killed and carcasses destroyed. Samples have been taken from 3 ducks and 2 chickens.
The ducks blood samples have resulted positive for antibodies against AI virus, while the 2 chicken samples were negative. These findings alone do not lead to the confirmation of Avian Influenza virus infection (including Highly Pathogenic AI virus H5N1, that is the virus strain circulating in Asia), in particular because the finding of antibodies in ducks cannot be considered as a rare event and could be due to prior infection with Low Pathogenic AI, while ducks death could be due to diseases other than AI.
Samples from the dead ducks are also being tested for the detection of Avian Influenza virus (virus isolation test on embryonated eggs – Highly Pathogenic AI should kill the chicken embryos in 3-4 days) at the Romanian laboratory. After 4 days, as at Sunday 9 October, this test has not given any positive result so far, however, a “second passage” in eggs is now being performed.
It is expected that by Wednesday 12 October the ongoing laboratory tests should confirm or exclude with a high degree of certainty the occurrence of AI; further tests indicating if the virus is Highly Pathogenic or not and for the final characterisation of the virus type would take two days more.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataThe European Commission will review the situation once these test results are received and will act immediately in accordance with the results.
On Sunday 9 October the European Commission’s services were informed of an outbreak of AI in an open-air turkey farm with 1800 turkeys, 1700 of which died after that the first clinical signs were detected on 1 October. All remaining birds in the farm have been killed and all carcasses destroyed. Disinfection has been applied. The origin of the outbreak is unknown. The farm is located in the region of Balikesir, in the north-western part of Anatolia.
Laboratory tests have resulted positive for the avian influenza virus but the exact strain is not yet known, nor is it known if the strain is of high or low pathogenic avian influenza.
The European Commission’s services and the Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza have immediately offered assistance and laboratory support to the Turkish veterinary authorities. The Turkish will probably sent appropriate samples to the CRL, Weybridge, probably today 10 October. Final virus characterisation will be available within 24/48 hours from arrival of samples in the laboratory.
In view of the positive results of the first laboratory tests for the isolation of avian influenza virus, the European Commission will today adopt a decision by emergency procedure to ban all imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey. Imports from Turkey of all other poultry products, with the exception of heat treated meat which kills the AI virus, are already banned, the Commission said.
