Iran reports H5N1 bird flu in backyard chickens

Iran reported on Monday an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus among backyard chickens in a village in the north of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reports.

The outbreak in Nogardan in Mazandaran province started on Friday. The virus killed 17 out of 25 susceptible birds at the location, and the remaining eight were destroyed, the OIE said in a statement, citing information from Iran’s agriculture ministry. An investigation is continuing to trace the source of the outbreak.