Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Swiss takes measures to guard against bird flu in winter

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Swiss takes measures to guard against bird flu in winter

    Swiss takes measures to guard against bird flu in winter



    GENEVA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Swiss lakeside areas are to be subject to a ban on keeping poultry outdoors during the winter over fears that bird flu could be transmitted from migrating wild birds, the official Swissinfo website reported on Sunday.

    From Oct. 15 a one-kilometer zone around Switzerland's largest lakes, such as Lake Constance and Lake Geneva, will be subject to the restrictions, the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office said.

    This means that poultry owners, both amateur and professional, will have to keep their birds inside when feeding them. They will also have to keep them away from wild birds at all times and farms and small holdings will be under veterinary supervision.

    According to the Veterinary Office, the lakeside zones are considered to be the most at risk from the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, of which there have been recent cases in neighboring countries.

    The measures are necessary to coincide with the start of winter and the migration season.

    "We know that a lot of wild birds will spend the winter in Switzerland - we have half a million wild birds in winter and only50,000 in summer," Veterinary Office spokeswoman Cathy Maret told Swissinfo.

    These latest measures, ordered by the government, are estimated to affect at least 800 people, said Maret. The partial ban is due to end on April 30, 2008.

    In past years there has been a full ban on keeping domestic fowl outdoors. Maret said that this year officials had decided that such a move would not be necessary. Transmission of the virus from wild birds to poultry was still rare, she said.

    In 2005 and 2006 there were 32 cases of the bird flu virus in wild birds in Switzerland, but the country has not recorded any more cases since then.

    However, Maret warned that future infections could not be ruled out.

    "The risk is there, bird flu is still around, we saw that in Germany, where they also had cases in poultry, so that's why we are taking protection measures," she said.
Working...
X