WattAgNet: Avian influenza hits turkey flock of 13,000 in Israel

Samples taken to local and national laboratories test positive for H5N1 avian influenza

Release Date: 2015-05-12

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been confirmed in a turkey flock in Hazafon, Israel.  The affected flock included 13,000 10-week-old turkeys, 1,000 of which died after contracting the virus, according to a report from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

The remaining 12,000 birds in the turkey flock were destroyed.

According to the OIE, the 13,000 birds in the flock were kept in five pens, and clinical signs of avian influenza were apparent in some of the turkeys in one of the pens.

Samples were taken to the Northern Avian Diseases Laboratory and the national laboratory at the Kimron Veterinary Institute, Avian Diseases Division, where tests came back positive for H5N1 avian influenza.

Control measures implemented included quarantine, zoning and movement control inside the country, with screening efforts to soon take place. The affected property will be disinfected.

According to the OIE report, the Hazafon avian influenza case is the first case of H5N1 avian influenza in Israel in three months. The organization stated that it will submit weekly reports on the latest avian influenza case until it is resolved.

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