Bulgaria reports bird flu outbreak at duck farm

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Bulgarian veterinary authorities will cull more than 7,000 ducks in the southern village of Malak Dol after a bird flu outbreak was confirmed at an industrial farm there, the country’s food safety agency said on Saturday.

It said the farm had been hit by the highly pathogenic avian influenza type A.

Severe forms of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, have spread in Europe and Asia in recent weeks. In France, eight outbreaks have now occurred on farms, with the previous seven cases in the north, according to the ministry.

Bird flu is often fatal for poultry. It cannot be transmitted through food although some human cases have raised concern among epidemiologists.