A sign with the inscription "Poultry plague - restricted area".
© dpa
The number of detections of avian flu in wild birds in Berlin is increasing.
After a first confirmed case in a swan in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in February, the virus has now been found in three dead gulls in Reinickendorf. This was announced by the local district office and the Senate Department for Consumer Protection on Wednesday. In the radius of up to one kilometer around the discovery site in the area of the Greenwich Promenade at Lake Tegel, the keeping of poultry in stables and covered aviaries is ordered as a precautionary measure.
As a guiding principle, the authorities urged all people who keep poultry to protect their animals from contact with wild birds. Anyone who finds dead waterfowl, ravens or birds of prey should report their find to the district's veterinary office. Then, an investigation can be initiated. Sick or dead animals should not be touched under any circumstances, nor should feathers be collected.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that as bird flu spreads, so does the risk of it spreading among humans. "This is not a cause for panic," Sylvie Briand, director of WHO's department for infectious disease preparedness, said in Geneva. "But we need to assess how well prepared we are."
Bird flu is currently spreading on a hitherto unknown scale: with the exception of Australia and Antarctica, there is evidence of the disease on all continents. Many millions of animals have already died, especially seabirds. In addition, the virus has been discovered in around 30 mammal species. It has infected and killed minks, foxes, raccoons, martens, bears and other animals.