The first case of bird flu in Germany this winter has been discovered near the Polish border, with an outbreak already causing havoc throughout Eastern Europe. Half a million birds had to be culled in Germany in 2017.
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Bird flu has returned to Germany for the first time since last winter, German broadcaster NDR reported Monday.
A wild white-fronted goose has been identified as having the pathogen in the German state of Brandenburg, a few miles from the Polish border. The virus has recently been discovered in parts of Eastern Europe, but this is the first confirmed case in Germany this season.
The highly contagious virus tends to spread very quickly. Tens of thousands of birds have already been culled throughout Romania, Belarus, Hungary and Poland in January alone. Additional cases have also been confirmed in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The virus tends to affect bird populations in the months of December and January.
Bird flu in Europe
The H5N8 strain of bird flu is spreading in Europe, and is highly contagious among birds. Thousands of birds have been culled.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Kästle
Testing for H5N8
A laboratory worker in North Rhine-Westphalia tests a goose suspected of having bird flu. The H5N8 strain of the virus is highly contagious among poultry. According to the WHO, transmission to humans cannot be ruled out, "although the likelihood is low, based on the limited information available to date." The current outbreak was first detected in Germany on November 8.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Fassbender
Restricted movement
A case of H5-type bird flu was detected at a poultry farm along this road in Cloppenburg county, Lower Saxony on November 23, leading to the culling of 16,000 turkeys. Authorities imposed a prohibited zone around the farm. The region is one of Europe's largest for poultry production, with millions of animals farmed there.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Strangmann
Rapid spread
The current spread of the H5N8 infection was first discovered on the Russian-Mongolian border in June. Cases of H5N8 have also been reported in several other European countries including Hungary, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark. Outbreaks were also reported in Israel and Iran. As of November 24, the virus had been reported in 12 German states.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TNN
Birds under cover
In several German regions authorities have instructed farmers to keep their birds indoors in an effort to halt the spread. That's easier said than done for some - the breeder of these ostriches in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is hoping for an exemption.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Wüstneck
Risks to other animals
While there's no evidence that mammals are being infected by H5N8, some German authorities have marked off areas where domestic animals are not allowed to roam. That's to prevent the pathogen spreading by infected dung sticking to an animal's fur or paw. Experts also think the disease could be spread among birds by predators ripping open infected wildfowl.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Fassbender
'Dynamic spread'
An official scours the shores of Lake Constance on Germany's southern border for dead birds on November 14. The president of Germany's Friedrich Löffler institute for animal health, Thomas Mettenleiter, said the infection was jumping rapidly from wild to domestic fowl. "We are currently seeing an extremely dynamic process with a strong tendency to spread," he said.
The Friedrich Loeffler Institute identified the 2017 outbreak as the worst epidemic of this particular flu ever in Europe. This strain of avian influenza normally does not infect humans, but several cases were reported in Germany in 2017, mostly by people who had visited or spent time at poultry markets.