The move comes after a series of outbreaks of the disease have been reported in Europe in past weeks. Such outbreaks have in the past led to major disruptions and slaughtering programmes in Europe’s poultry industry,
Bird flu cases have appeared in the four central European countries of Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic since the end of last year. A case of H5N8 bird flu was confirmed in a wild bird in the neighbouring country of Germany in late January. The virus, which is highly infectious, is thought to have originated in Russia.
A red alert is the highest level of alert, issued when there is a considerable danger of an animal disease occurring in Switzerland.
Higher risk
The Food Safety and Veterinary Office said in its Radar BulletinExternal link for January, published online on Thursday, there was a higher risk for avian flu being transmitted to birds in Switzerland due to winter migratory birds. It recommended checking and if necessary improving farm hygiene and biosafety measures.
Officials said that intensive trade relations in the European poultry sector meant that the virus could spread further. It called on the public to be alert and to report ill or dead wild birds to the local wildlife authorities. It is important for tests to be carried out.
The last time extra measures were needed to protect against avian flu was in late 2016 after cases were found in wild birds. They lasted four months. The last confirmed case of bird flu in Switzerland was at the end of December 2017
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Bird flu cases detected around Lake Geneva
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On Saturday, the Swiss Federal Office of Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs confirmed that a dead Tufted Duck and a Laughing Gull found near the port of the city of Lausanne have tested positive for bird flu. Like the cases in Lake Constance, the two birds were found to harbour the H5N8 strain of the…
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Final test results on the tufted ducks are still pending, but the federal office said studies carried out pointed to a H5N8 subtype of the virusExternal link. Wild migrating birds can transmit bird flu to farmed poultry. Containment measures are being coordinated by the Swiss, Austrian and German authorities as the lake borders all three…
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