Avian influenza

Chicken keepers must now confine their animals

Chickens must now be kept indoors.

(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

As of tonight, it is compulsory to keep poultry in 28 municipalities in Flachgau. Farms with more than 50 animals must implement special safety measures. The risk of spread is high. The all-clear has been given for humans - so far there are no known effects of avian influenza on people.

In recent weeks, HPAI avian influenza has been detected in two swans found dead at Grabensee on the Salzburg side of the lake. Two poultry farms in the district of Braunau in Upper Austria and several very large poultry farms in Lower Austria are also affected. Due to the risk of infection from wild birds, the majority of the Flachgau region is therefore subject to compulsory stabling. This was announced by the state of Salzburg via state veterinary director Peter Schiefer. 

Symptoms of the disease
Avian influenza causes deaths in birds, especially in domestic poultry flocks. Peter Schiefer appeals: "Farmers and hobby farmers in the affected area should therefore protect their chickens or geese as well as feeding and watering places from contact with water or wild birds. If typical symptoms of the disease are observed in poultry, such as increased mortality, severe respiratory distress, swelling in the head area, a decline in laying performance, significantly less water and feed intake or flock-wide dullness, the local veterinary authority should be contacted so that the case can be clarified."

Increased risk area in other parts of the country
All other parts of the country are included in the increased risk area. In these areas, any contact between the poultry kept and wild birds, especially waterfowl, must be prevented. This also includes keeping ducks and geese separate from other poultry, feeding and watering the animals only in the barn or in protected shelters, fencing off water points in the run that are accessible to wild birds, no watering with water from surface water collection basins that could be accessible to wild birds. 

No danger to humans
"Human infections with the disease have not been detected in Europe to date. There is no danger for us," emphasizes Peter Schiefer.