Poultry plague strikes: H5N1 spreads out in the district of Cloppenburg!

Poultry plague strikes: H5N1 spreads out in the district of Cloppenburg!

In the municipality of Garrel near Cloppenburg, a severe outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) has been confirmed in a turkey operation. This alarming development was officially documented by the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (Fli). Of the approximately 8,900 affected turkeys, all of the animal welfare was killed in order to prevent further spread of the disease. This marks the second outbreak this year in the Cloppenburg district. From December 17, 2024, a reinstall ban for turkeys in the affected communities, including Garrel and Bösel, will also come into force. The exact affected areas can be viewed on the website of the district administration, such as Nordnews reports .

additional cases and measures

At the same time, another case was discovered in the Friesoythe city area with 9,400 infected turkeys, which was also confirmed by the FLI. Here, too, the animals were killed in an animal protection -friendly manner and the operation is now under quarantine for disinfection measures. This leads to an alarming total number of around 47,100 affected animals in the entire district, where at least two outbreaks are already documented. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection had previously incorrectly reported another case, but later apologized for it, as In-Garrel .

Due to the high-contingent nature of the aviary influenza, significant blocking and surveillance zones are built. The protection zone applies within a radius of at least three kilometers around the affected companies, while a surveillance zone of at least ten kilometers is determined by the protection zone. In these zones, certain activities, such as the partial stable of poultry, are prohibited to prevent the spread of the virus. The economic effects are devastating because the loss of animals and the measures taken can cause considerable financial damage. The virus spreads quickly and can cause high mortality rates among the poultry stock affected, which underlines the urgency of the restrictive measures.