One million domestic birds have been affected by avian influenza in 2018, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Rumen Porodzanov told the Parliament in response to a question from MPs, Focus News Agency reports.
Since 2006, 23 outbreaks of avian influenza have been detected in mallards in Bulgaria, while in poultry the disease was first registered in 2015, with one outbreak. The occurrence increased in subsequent years to 53 cases in 2017. For the present year the minister reported 26 cases that had affected 20 industrial farms with over 1 million birds, mostly hen farms. The strategy for dealing with the situation aims at prevention, early detection and measures to prevent the spread of the infection. The results so far show continuing virus circulation in poultry farms, Porodzanov said.