Bird flu detected at family farm: all birds slaughtered

Bird flu has been detected in a domestic poultry farm in Chafé, in the district of Viana do Castelo, in the north west of Portugal, the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV) announced today. Despite the latest recorded cases, Portugal’s health status remains unchanged – meaning the country continues to be considered free of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus (even though it occasionally detects it). The latest outbreak saw all affected animals slaughtered, writes Lusa, and farms with poultry in the protection zone (a radius of three kilometres around the outbreak) and surveillance zone (10 kilometres) inspected. The DGAV clarified that there is no evidence that bird flu is transmitted to humans through the consumption of food, such as meat and eggs. If this changes, we will all have a great deal more to worry about.