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Last week, the Ministry of Agriculture ordered that poultry across the country be confined indoors from November 10 as Spain braces for what experts believe could be the worst bird flu epidemic of all time. With millions of chickens already culled and the price of eggs skyrocketing, the Region of Murcia is taking no chances and has ordered a poultry lockdown in 11 municipalities.

 

As of this Monday, poultry farms in Fortuna, Lorquí, Molina de Segura, Santomera, Cartagena, Mazarrón, San Pedro del Pinatar, San Javier, Los Alcázares and Torre Pacheco will have to keep their birds indoors until further notice. These municipalities have been designated as areas of special risk.

 

The measures will also be applied in Cañada Hermosa, in the municipality of Murcia, which has been classified as a special surveillance area.

 

In Spain as a whole, 1,199 municipalities have been deemed areas of special risk and surveillance: Andalucia (197), Aragón (128), Canary Islands (1), Cantabria (31), Castilla y León (250), Castilla-La Mancha (18), Catalonia (224), Community of Madrid (16), Comunitat Valenciana (138), Extremadura (99), Galicia (40), Islands Balearic Islands (14), La Rioja (6), Navarra (12), Basque Country (6), Principality of Asturias (8), Region of Murcia (11), Ceuta and Melilla.

 

Following the increase in cases detected in wild and domestic birds both in the European Union and in different autonomous communities of Spain in recent weeks, the regional government has increased specific protection measures against avian flu. At the moment, no case of the disease has been detected in the Region.

 

 

Images: Freepik/SEO BirdLife