Now Bird Flu Is Spreading Around the World
The latest disease to spread from farmed animals has already seen millions of birds slaughtered or culled on farms as widespread as Germany, India, and China.
Credit: Amy Jones/Moving Animals
Farms around the world are slaughtering or culling millions of birds after separate cases of bird flu have been identified within their farms.
Countries including Germany, India, and China have all reported bird flu outbreaks within the last two months.
Bird flu, also known as avian flu, is highly infectious amongst birds including chickens, ducks, and turkeys.
When cases are identified, farmers often cull any birds in the surrounding area to stop further spreading. A recent “aggressive strain” identified in Hunan Province, China, saw the virus kill 4,500 chickens and hens on a single farm, with a further 18,000 other birds culled in surrounding farms.
Similar cases have recently seen millions of birds culled across countries including Germany, India, and the UK. A single egg farm in the UK recently culled 375,000 chickens when a case was identified on their site.
Whilst it is rare for the disease to affect humans, the virus mortality rate within people is 60 percent.
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