Bottrop (dpa / lnw) - For the first time in six months, avian influenza has appeared in North Rhine-Westphalia. As the Ministry of Agriculture announced in Düsseldorf on Tuesday, a small hobby farm in Bottrop was affected. There, after the diagnosis, the stock of 120 ducks, geese and chickens was killed and disposed of. A restricted zone has been set up around the outbreak farm, in which poultry may not be transported.
All necessary steps to contain the virus had already been taken last weekend, the ministry said. The exclusion zone extends into the Recklinghausen and Wesel districts as well as into the area of the cities of Oberhausen and Gelsenkirchen. In the areas, keepers would have to keep the poultry in stalls, and the animals could only be fed in places that were inaccessible to wild birds.
Avian influenza is a viral, highly contagious infectious disease affecting livestock species and other birds. The risk of infection for people is very low, the ministry said. Since October 2020, Germany and Europe have had several severe cases of avian influenza.
