Outbreak of avian influenza was detected in Sweden, will be slaughtered 200,000 chickens

The authorities of Sweden announced today that it will proceed to slaughter 200,000 chickens at a farm in the south of the country where an outbreak of avian griptis detected (H5N8).

The virus is very dangerous flu, which however is not transmitted to humans, was identified Thursday in egg production company Aniagra Produktions Merarp in the southwest of the country.

"And the 200,000 chickens of the farm will be euthanized to prevent the spread of the virus," he said in a statement the Department of Agriculture. "Because it is a large farm, you will need some time, especially to disinfect all areas," said Karin Echl, researcher of the Department.

"This is certainly a hard blow, but for now the important thing is not to disperse the virus," explained the local newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad general manager Aniagra Anders Lindberg.

The Agriculture Department said that eggs from this farm and in general the country's birds do not present a risk to consumers because the H5N8 strain has never been transmitted to humans.

This strain has been detected in wild birds ten European countries, according to the World Health Organization: Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Switzerland.

Another outbreak was detected in the village Itagki, in the state of Karnataka, in southwest India. The 1,593 birds infected with H5N8 or no risk of contracting it slaughtered.