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Potsdam (dpa / bb) - After the outbreak of avian influenza in a commercial turkey fattening in Brandenburg, the poultry farmers are extremely concerned.
"The alert is on dark red," said the managing director of the Brandenburg poultry industry association, Katharina Standke, of the German press agency on Monday.
Since the first cases that occurred, the keepers have been asked to keep their biosecurity measures as high as possible.
This includes, for example, changing and disinfecting clothes and shoes and clearing away standing water and food in the open air.
There are checklists from the association for the measures, said Standke.
Every poultry farmer can check for himself whether he has thought of everything and what else he can do to protect himself.
The association had already warned people to be vigilant after the first avian influenza cases.
Avian influenza with the dangerous H5N8 pathogen broke out in a commercial poultry population in Brandenburg.
Around 16,000 turkeys had to be killed by order of the responsible veterinary office in the Prignitz district, as the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday evening.
It was the second case in a poultry herd within a few weeks.
The pathogen was confirmed in a small farm in the Spree-Neisse district at the end of December.
In addition, the virus has so far been detected in some wild birds in Brandenburg.
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The keepers knew how difficult it was to protect themselves against avian influenza because the entry routes of the dangerous pathogen were sometimes not controllable, reported Standke.
In addition, stables could often not be completely screened off.
This is the case in turkey stalls, for example.
A ventilation concept is being pursued there so that air exchange is better, she explained.
The side walls were closed halfway high, and wind protection nets were attached above, through which the epidemic could get into the stables.
A broiler fattening is closed and thus much better shielded.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210125-99-161506 / 2