BUDAPEST, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian National Food Chain Safety Bureau has ordered the culling of all poultry, infected or not, within a one kilometer radius of avian influenza outbreak sites located in southern Hungary, local wire service MTI reported on Saturday.
The measure targeted the sites near the towns of Bugac and Kiskunmajsa in Bacs-Kiskun county and involved tens of thousands of animals. Farmers will be compensated for their losses.
The national chief veterinarian on Tuesday ordered that all poultry in the southeastern counties of Bekes, Bacs-Kiskun, and Csongrad must be kept indoors to prevent contact with the migrating wild ducks that have been spreading the H5N8 virus.
Similar measures to protect poultry have been taken by Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Denmark, Croatia, and Switzerland, which are all at risk since they are all along the ducks' migration route.
According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the bird flu outbreak began two months ago and will continue to threaten the European Union until the spring of 2017.
