Case Of Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu Registered In France's Corsica - Agriculture Ministry

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2020) A case of bird flu (avian influenza) has been confirmed in France's Corsica and specific measures have been introduced to limit the spread of the infection, the country's Agriculture and food Ministry informs.

"After learning about this case of HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Julien DENORMANDIE brought together all the departments of the ministry and the national reference laboratory and decided to place the entire national metropolitan area at 'high' risk level as of November 17, 2020," the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

According to the release, the outbreak of the bird flu (strain H5N8) was detected in Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica), at the pet department of a garden center located near Bastia, after abnormal deaths were observed among the poultry there.

"All of the birds were euthanized," France's agriculture ministry said.

Specific measures to monitor and limit movements around the Haute-Corse outbreak were introduced and an investigation is underway into the origins of the outbreak.

According to the agriculture ministry, the H5N8 avian influenza strain isolated in Corsica appears to be similar to one of the strains currently circulating in the Netherlands. This virus is not transmissible to humans.