Simbach, Germany - Another 26,000 ducks are to be destroyed in Germany's battle to stop the spread of H5N1 avian influenza through poultry farms in Bavaria state, officials said Friday. The entire 26,000-bird stock of the farm near the small town of Simbach would be slaughtered after an unspecified H5-type virus was found among them.
The precautionary kill was foreshadowed earlier this week. There was still no evidence yet if the virus in the flock was the deadliest sort, N5N1. The affected farms trade live ducks among one another.
County officials said the Friday operation would be finished by night-time.
Since the end of August, more than 400,000 birds have been destroyed at area poultry farms. Later tests of tissue found H5N1 in numerous birds.
The killings are driven by the fear that the highly infectious virus could mutate and become a major threat to human life. Pro-animal groups are campaigning against the killings, arguing that the birds pose no danger.
