“This is an infection rate on a scale that we have never experienced here before”
Two new outbreaks of bird flu were reported in northern Israel on Sunday, as the virus continues to spread around the world.
In all, more than 21,000 poultry have been infected, while 7,400 cases have been identified in the town of Gadish of the Gilboa Regional Council, and 14,000 in Neot Golan in the southern Golan Heights.
The veterinary services operate in an emergency format and actively try to locate new outbreaks in order to isolate them. Eggs produced in Gadish have been withdrawn from the market.
“This is an infection rate on a scale that we have never experienced here before,” Agriculture Minister Oded Forer said on Sunday.
“Each new outbreak is a warning that prompts us to increase the biological security of all livestock in Israel,” he said.
“The employees of the Ministry of Agriculture are working in an emergency format day and night with increased forces in order to manage the situation and allow a return to routine as soon as possible,” he said.
So far, all bird flu outbreaks in Israel have been caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain.
Ten days ago, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) announced that one in five wild cranes living in or crossing the country on their migratory route, was infected with bird flu, while each year regarding 100,000 of these birds pass through the Hula Valley in northern Israel.
