Another province reports bird flu cases

Authorities have imposed a quarantine on five neighborhoods in the central province of Eskişehir after bird flu was detected at a poultry farm, marking the second confirmed case of the disease in Türkiye this year.

Following reports of unexplained deaths at a farm in the Sivrihisar district, teams from the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry initiated an investigation, the ministry said in a written statement on Nov. 10.

Their investigation revealed that the poultry had been recently imported from Konya, a central city that reported an outbreak of bird flu at the end of October.

Furthermore, the ministry confirmed that the chickens found dead in Eskişehir were infected with the virus.

As a precaution, the farm and the five surrounding neighborhoods have been placed under quarantine.

In addition, poultry within the affected neighborhoods will be culled, and compensation will be provided to the owners for the disposal of the animals.

The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) announced on Nov. 4. that Türkiye reported a fresh outbreak of the highly contagious H5N1 bird flu, also known as avian influenza, marking the first such case in over a year.

The virus struck a large commercial poultry farm in Konya's Meram district, where 211 birds died from the disease in a flock of roughly 790,000, according to WOAH’s report, which cited Turkish authorities.

The case comes amid a seasonal increase in avian influenza across Europe and the Middle East. Authorities stated that necessary precautions were taken to avoid the spread of the disease.

The ministry moved quickly to contain the spread. “There is no situation that can be described as an epidemic in our country,” and the case in Konya is isolated, it said.