The Austrian Health Ministry declared the entire country a risk zone following the outbreak of the virus in the district of Amstetten, Lower Austria, a week ago.
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Around 18,000 animals have already been slaughtered since the start of the crisis.
New cases were recently detected on four farms with around 200,000 animals in Upper and Lower Austria.
A protection zone has also been set up around the affected farms within a three kilometer radius. If necessary, it could be extended to 10km. Veterinarians will check dozens of farms to detect possible new cases.
Initially, 25 districts in Upper and Lower Austria, Salzburg and Carinthia will be classified as high-risk areas. In these areas, farms with more than 50 animals are subject to a confinement obligation.
“We have already taken precautions in Lower Austria. We have already designated four districts as risk districts where a general obligation to keep animals indoors applies. I know that the Federal Ministry is already considering measures in this regard for an even larger area in the federal provinces and that they are also being implemented.” declared a municipal councilor from the town of Krems in the center of the country.
The number of cases in wild birds has also increased recently.
“In order to stem the spread, all of Austria is now declared a high risk zone“, explained the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, also responsible for animal protection, in a press release. A decree has been published to this effect.
The first infections appeared after the floods of mid-September
Authorities do not yet know how the first infections started in Austria, but cases were first found in wild birds and domestic poultry in September.
It was around the same time that catastrophic floods hit several regions of Lower Austria and Central Europe.
Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects poultry and wild aquatic birds.
It usually causes serious illness or death of the host animal.
Transmission to humans remains very rare and is limited to people in close contact with infected animals and contaminated spaces.
Human cases have been reported in recent years in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and more recently on the American continent.
So far, no cases of bird flu has not been detected in humans in Europe.
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