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More than half a million birds culled in German bird flu outbreak

AFP
AFP - news@thelocal.de
More than half a million birds culled in German bird flu outbreak
A container and trucks stand on the grounds of a poultry farm where animals had to be culled amid the rampant bird flu in Neutrebbin, eastern Germany, on October 27, 2025. (Photo by RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP)

More than half a million farm birds have been culled in Germany, authorities said Monday, as experts predicted it could result in a steep rise in egg prices for consumers.

Germany's national animal disease research centre, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), said 31 outbreaks had been confirmed on farms since September and the disease was spreading rapidly.

"The situation is changing so quickly that the figures are just a snapshot and give the scale of the outbreak rather than exact totals," an FLI spokeswoman said.

The number of wild birds that have died is not known, though more than 1,500 wild cranes are believed to have succumbed to the disease in the eastern state of Brandenburg alone.

An AFP reporter at a poultry farm in the Brandenburg town of Neutrebbin saw thousands of culled chickens being tipped into a trailer on Monday, as well as dead ducks being removed from containers.

The worst affected state so far is Lower Saxony, which has registered eight outbreaks, followed by Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with six each.

Bird flu rarely poses a risk to humans but can cause big losses for the agricultural industry and prompt shortages of household items.

Egg prices could rise by 50 percent on the current trajectory, Robert Schmack, head of the Bavarian Poultry Association, told local radio Monday.

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Calling for the federal government to mandate keeping birds in their stalls to contain the spread, Hans-Peter Goldnick, head of the German Poultry Association, said the situation was critical.

"There are a relatively large number of outbreaks all over Germany and across all types of birds," he told broadcaster ZDF.

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