Bird flu in Poland. There will be exceptional EC measures

The European Commission is preparing urgent action in relation to the alarming increase in outbreaks of avian influenza in Poland. Prohibitions and restrictions may be introduced in 5 voivodships, which will hit poultry producers and trade. The decisions will be made next week.

Some areas in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Łódź, Mazowieckie, Warmian-Masurian and Wielkopolska provinces will be covered by "extraordinary measures" due to the hazard of spread of avian influenza virus; KE will decide next week - told PAP spokesperson KE Eva Hrnchirzova.

One specified measurement may be to prohibit the sale of poultry from affected areas.

According to the spokesperson, 53 outbreaks of avian influenza have been confirmed in Poland in the last 2 months in Mazowieckie and Wielkopolskae voivodships, and 73 in the full country. She stressed that although the illness besides occurs in another EU countries, the situation in Poland is "especially unfavourable".

She added that a large number of poultry establishments have an impact on the spread of the disease.

"Therefore, any areas in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Łódź, Mazowieckie, Warmian-Masurian and Wielkopolska provinces in Poland, where there is simply a advanced density of poultry plants, can be considered as areas of advanced hazard of spreading HPAI (bird flu virus with advanced pathogenicity – PAP)" - said Hrnchirzova.

She added that there is now a spring migration of chaotic birds, and in any areas of the EU, including Poland, there has been an increase in outbreaks detected in chaotic species, which increases the hazard of spreading illness to poultry.

According to the EC, it is essential to adopt additional emergency measures in Poland to be applied in these high-risk areas. "These measures will be adopted by the Commission next week", said Hrnchirzova.

However, the Ombudsman did not inform the Commission of the measures it intends to take.

In the past, the EC has already decided on emergency measures. For example, in 2014, the European Commission did so to halt the outbreak of avian influenza in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, including a ban on the sale of poultry products from affected areas.

The EC shall besides inform on its website the action to be taken under EU law in the event of the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

"Member States' authorities must immediately implement measures to destruct the illness in an infected establishment, including the slaughter of all birds, the safe disposal of dead birds and possibly contaminated materials and the cleaning and disinfection. In addition, a closed region with a radius of at least 10 km around the affected establishment should be established, and additional control measures should be applied in establishments in that region where birds are kept" - we read on the EC pages.

Where deemed necessary, those measures may besides be extended to poultry farms in the vicinity or to farms which have been in contact with the infected farm.

Additional bird monitoring and surveillance measures are besides introduced to measure the illness situation and control the spread of the disease. These measures shall be maintained for at least 30 days after the virus has been eliminated from the infected establishment.

From Brussels Łukasz Osiński (PAP)