Bird Flu Detected in Swans in Belgrade Territory – Measures Stricter Than Covid Ones, Fairs Banned

The presence of bird flu has been confirmed in dead swans in the territory of Zemun, in Borca and in the Kovilovo location, as announced by the Veterinary Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture.

This is the H5N8 wild-bird subtype, and the presence has been confirmed in the swans which died on October 1 in Zemun and on October 6 in Borca and Kovilovo.

As said, the Veterinary Administration has adopted decisions setting the measures which are implemented in the infected and jeopardized areas, in order to suppress and prevent the spreading of this infectious bird disease.

– In line with the decision, the infected area is considered to be an area within at least a three-kilometer radius, and the jeopardized area is the one within at least a 10-km radius from the locations where the dead birds were found – as announced on the official website of the administration.

The decision emphasizes that avian influenza (bird flu) is not zoonotic, that is, that it is not transferred from birds to people, but can cause a great economic damage if it infects poultry.

The preventive measures are active and passive supervision, control of the health of the poultry in potentially risky areas close to water areas with wild birds, the closing of poultry inside facilities, the prevention of contact between wild birds and poultry and the tightening of bio-security and hygiene measures at farms.

– As long as the measures are in effect, the organization of fairs of poultry farming and decorative birds is banned, as are the sales of poultry, eggs and poultry meat and offal from the infected area – the administration announced, and their website features a detailed guide to poultry farming while the measures are in effect.

Uprava za veterinu Republika Srbija

Veterinary Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture

Zemun

Borča

Kovilovo

bird flu

avian influenza

H5N8

zoonotic

poultry

poultry meat

eggs