Bird flu is spreading to more and more districts in Baden-Württemberg. Now the Poultry Industry Association is calling for a nationwide barn requirement.
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Poultry farmers in Baden-Württemberg are worried: In more and more districts in the south-west there are outbreaks of bird flu in wild birds. The Poultry Industry Association of Baden-Württemberg is therefore calling on Agriculture Minister Peter Hauk (CDU) to decree a state-wide stable requirement to protect livestock from infection with the aggressive virus: “Wild birds do not keep to district borders,” says Chairman Georg Heitlinger about the fact that so far only individual districts in Baden-Württemberg have ordered stables, such as the district of Böblingen or the city of Stuttgart.
Bird flu outbreak at farm would be ‘disaster’
“It’s only a matter of time before farm animals become infected,” says Heitlinger. If there is an outbreak of bird flu in a company, it is a catastrophe for the owners, whose animals would then have to be culled. “That means massive economic damage,” says Heitlinger. The association wants a temporary stable requirement until March 31st. “This would ensure that our poultry in the country is safe and you could evaluate at the end of March whether you need to extend the stall order or whether the situation has defused,” says Heitlinger. The Ministry for Rural Areas, Food and Consumer Protection has not yet responded to the association’s request, reports the chairman, who sent the request to the state government at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning.
