An Israeli worker disposes chicken eggs at a quarantined farm in a northern Israeli village of Margaliot, Jan. 3, 2022. (Photo by Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)
JERUSALEM, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The peak of the bird flu outbreak in Israel has probably passed, and there is no indication of harm to humans, said a joint statement issued Friday by the state's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Prime Minister's Office.
An encouraging recovery has been recorded in the last two days, the statement said.
Aerial photo taken on Jan. 5, 2022 shows workers disinfecting a quarantined coop in the village of Ram On, northern Israel. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)
Workers who collect the bird carcasses and monitor water sources to detect the virus are protected and have received preventive medication, it added.
An investigation into the spread of the virus will soon be conducted, led by Israel's National Emergency Management Authority in the Ministry of Defense, according to the statement.
The outbreak of the pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza began in northern and southern Israel in mid-November and has intensified in the last three weeks.
On Thursday, the agriculture ministry said that more than 1 million chickens, turkeys and ducks had been infected in 20 coop hotspots and had to be killed.
The virus also infected wild birds, killing more than 8,000 cranes in northeastern Israel. ■
