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Jena (dpa / th) - The number of keepers of domestic poultry registered in the Thuringian Tierseuchenkasse has increased significantly with the outbreak of avian influenza.

22,000 poultry farmers are currently registered, said managing director Karsten Donat on Thursday upon request.

According to him, that is 1000 more than a year ago.

The current outbreak of the animal disease is making itself felt, said Donat.

"We have noticed this since December, when there were the first indications of an impending infection."

The background to this is that animal keepers concerned only receive compensation for animals killed or no longer for sale because of the disease if they properly register their poultry with the animal disease fund.

In Thuringia, the H5N8 influenza virus, which is highly contagious to poultry, has been detected in around 35 poultry holdings since March 22, according to the Ministry of Health.

Small poultry holdings are affected, said a ministry spokesman.

The virus has not yet penetrated large laying hen farms.

Around 1,100 animals had to be killed because of bird flu, as avian influenza is also known colloquially.

Around 500 other birds perished.

Several counties have made stabling compulsory for chickens, geese, ducks and other poultry.

The animal disease first appeared in the Weimarer Land.

There, a poultry farm in Niederreißen had acquired animals from an infection-affected farm near Paderborn (North Rhine-Westphalia) and sold them on.

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Owners registered with the Animal Disease Fund have financial compensation for certain notifiable animal diseases, with which losses, for example through emergency slaughter or due to the unsaleability of sick animals, are mitigated.

Because of the bird flu, this was last the case in Thuringia in 2017.

Avian influenza, also known as avian influenza, is an infectious disease that occurs primarily in waterfowl and other birds.

Avian influenza is a notifiable animal disease and is therefore controlled by the state.

Although experts from the Robert Koch Institute and the Friedrich Loeffler Institute do not rule out the transmission of the H5N8 virus to humans, they point out that such cases of illness have not yet been observed in humans.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210408-99-125787 / 2

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Overview of compulsory stable due to avian influenza in Thuringia

Thuringian Animal Disease Fund