Since the beginning of September, over half a million hens, ducks, geese, and turkeys have been culled in Germany due to a virulent strain of bird flu that is sweeping across the nation.
The Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), the German government agency responsible for monitoring animal diseases, has reported 30 confirmed outbreaks in poultry farms and an additional 73 among wild birds.
“And we’re expecting more,” a spokesperson informed the dpa news agency, noting that 23 more suspected cases are currently under investigation.
The FLI indicates that bird flu outbreaks typically arise in early November, coinciding with the peak of the migratory season, suggesting that the current situation may not have reached its climax yet.
In the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, local authorities have reported new suspected cases arriving daily, describing an “unusual dynamic” in the situation.
The northern and eastern states are the hardest hit, with Lower Saxony reporting 20 cases, Thuringia and Brandenburg each with 19 cases, and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania with 14. Additionally, cases have been confirmed in Bavaria (eight) and North Rhine-Westphalia (five).
Cranes have been particularly affected, with emergency services in northern Brandenburg, just north of Berlin, tasked with disposing of thousands of infected, deceased birds found scattered across fields.
The outbreaks are attributed to the highly infectious H5N-1 strain of the HPAIV influenza virus, commonly referred to as bird flu, according to the FLI.
While the virus is theoretically transmissible to humans in high doses, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s federal agency for disease control and prevention, has reported no known cases of transmission to humans.
However, the economic impact on consumers may be felt, as Robert Schmack, chairman of the Bavarian Poultry Union, warned of a potential 40% increase in egg prices and a reduced selection of poultry products in supermarkets.
Conversely, Hans-Peter Goldknick, president of the Central German Poultry Union, expressed a different outlook, stating to public broadcaster ZDF that he does “not expect price explosions in the short term,” nor leading up to Christmas, particularly since most geese in Germany are imported from Hungary and Poland.
To help curb the spread of the virus, the FLI advises avoiding contact with dead birds and refraining from wearing dirty boots near enclosures housing vulnerable animals.
In the German parliament, a spokeswoman for the opposition Green Party highlighted that the current bird flu outbreak has exposed the “vulnerability of factory farming,” where crowded conditions in pens create an ideal environment for the virus to proliferate.
