Europe is expecting more outbreaks of avian influenza in the next few weeks as wild birds migrate southward, said Matthew Stone, deputy director general of the World Organization for Animal Health. Eight European countries and Israel have founds cases of the highly contagious H5N8 strain of bird flu in the past few weeks and some countries are ordering that poultry flocks be kept indoors to avoid the disease from spreading.
Most outbreaks involved wild birds, but Germany, Hungary, and Austria have now reported cases in domestic duck and turkey farms where all poultry had to be culled. Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Croatia have also reported outbreaks of H5N8. France currently has been spared by H5N8 thus far. Read More