Government Orders Slaughter of Domestic Poultry in Adjara
The Georgian government has ordered that all domestic poultry kept at homes in a 3-kilometer radius of the site of an outbreak of bird flu in the Adjara Autonomous Republic be slaughtered.
Although at the moment there is no evidence of the H5N1 virus in domestic poultry, the government ordered this slaughter after a second case of bird flu was detected in a dead wild bird in Khelvachauri district of Adjara on February 25.
“We have launched the destroying process of domestic poultry in a 3-kilometer radius in the Khelvachauri district, which includes 11 villages. This is an urgent measure in order to prevent the infection of domestic poultry,” Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said on Saturday.
He was speaking with reporters in Poti, a town on the Black Sea coast. He said that the bird flu was not confirmed among those wild birds which were found dead on the Paliastomi lake near Poti.
The first potential case of bird flu was confirmed in Georgia on February 24. The H5N1 virus was detected in a dead swan found on the lake near the village of Adlia in Khelvachauri district. Samples have already been sent to a London lab.
