Approximately 750,000 laying hens are to culled after an outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) on a farm in the Czech Republic, the country’s State Veterinary Administration (SVS) announced today (Wednesday, January 4).
The farm, which is located in the village of Brod nad Tichou, Tachovsk, initially reported that 220,000 hens would have to be culled due to the presence of the H5N1 strain of the disease in their hall.
However, tests carried out by the SVS on other hens in other parts of the farm confirmed further presence of the disease.
Following the positive test results, the SVS said it “therefore decided to cull all laying hens, of which there were approx. 750,000 in the farm”.
“This is a logistically very demanding event, therefore cooperation with the components of the integrated rescue system (IZS), the breeder and sanitation companies will be very important,” it said.
“Another outbreak of bird flu has appeared in a small chicken farm in the Zlin region, this is the fourth outbreak since the beginning of the year,” the SVS added.
“Since yesterday, the intensive culling of laying hens has been taking place in the large farm in Brod nad Tichou in cooperation with the IZS components in one of the three halls, which originally housed approximately 220,000 laying hens.
“Despite the measures taken and all efforts, it was not possible to prevent the spread of the highly contagious poultry disease to other houses and the whole farm will have to be culled.”