Bird flu strikes: new case in Western Pomerania-Greifswald!

Bird flu strikes: new case in Western Pomerania-Greifswald!

There is worrying news in Gustebin, a small town in the municipality of Wusterhusen in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district: a new outbreak of bird flu has been detected here. The pathogen, the highly contagious H5N1 virus, has affected a private poultry farm with 48 chickens and ducks. All birds kept there had to be culled for health reasons, which brings the responsibility of the authorities.

The decision not to set up an exclusion zone around the said establishment is based on a comprehensive risk assessment carried out by the district administration. Nevertheless, the existing protection and surveillance zones will be maintained in order to stabilize the situation in the district. The district administration has asked all poultry farmers to be vigilant and to contact the veterinary office immediately if they suspect illnesses.

Vigilant attitude for poultry owners

In order to contain the spread of the virus, strict hygiene measures and cleanliness are recommended. This includes wearing cleaned or disinfected footwear in the chicken coop. In addition, due to a new outbreak of avian influenza in Sassen-Trantow, special housing requirements and protection zones apply in several communities in the district, which are intended to minimize contact between domestic and wild birds.

Beyond the current situation, there is also a global dimension, which is reported on the NABU website. It points out that bird flu is increasingly threatening wild birds worldwide, especially cranes. Since mid-October 2025, several thousand dead cranes have already been registered in Germany. Although these beautiful birds are not the main cause of the outbreaks, they are vulnerable because they tend to cluster at resting places.

Hygiene and control are the focus

NABU demands that monitoring and protection measures for wild animal populations be improved. Gaps in hygiene in large fattening farms are often considered to trigger local outbreaks. The rapid removal of carcasses is essential to minimizing the risk of infection, and volunteer conservationists often take on this important task.

International perspectives also arise from the topic. Tens of thousands of cranes were found dead in Hungary in November 2023, indicating a massive outbreak of bird flu. Bird flu is not only spreading in Europe, but there have also been confirmed infections on the Galapagos Islands. These developments show that increased vigilance and preventive measures are necessary not only in Germany but worldwide.

As a final point, it is worth mentioning that the World Health Organization considers the risk to humans to be low, while H5N1 is increasingly occurring on dairy farms in the USA, which adds additional urgency to this issue.

The situation in Western Pomerania-Greifswald remains tense, and the responsibility for preventing the spread of bird flu clearly lies with poultry farmers and the responsible authorities. Stay informed poultry farmers and pay attention to the health of your animals!

For more information, please visit the articles from NDR and NABU.