Turkish farm under quarantine after bird flu detected

A poultry farm in northern Turkey is under quarantine after traces of bird flu virus were found as reported by a local official. Bird flu was also reported in Turkey’s western region where a poultry facility was affected.

Ali Manti, the governor of Bandirma on Turkey’s Marmara coast, said the disease was detected in Balikesir province. He did not confirm whether the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which can infect and kill humans, had been detected.

Poultry facility also affected in western Turkey

Bird flu was also found among dead birds in Turkey’s western district of Bandırma’s Edincik area, three kilometers surrounding the poultry facility where the flu was found was also quarantined. “All protection measures were taken in the facility where the disease was determined. The cleaning process has been done after the killing and extermination processes. Poultry which was near the infected facility or held the risk of being infected was slaughtered,” Mantı added.

Teams from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock are culling chickens and disinfecting the farm, Manti said, without specifying the number of infected birds. The government announced that bird flu had been detected following the deaths of 40,000 chickens in Bandirma over the previous four months.