Spain orders the confinement of all farm birds due to avian flu

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has decreed the confinement, effective this Thursday, of all free-range poultry on farms across the country. The measure represents a "reinforcement" of preventative measures to control the spread of avian influenza, according to the Spanish government, as it is a highly contagious viral disease. The executive branch has issued a ministerial order affecting all poultry farms in the country, including organic farms, those raising poultry for personal consumption, and those producing meat or eggs for direct sale to consumers. The order extends the prohibition to all animals kept outdoors. The measure had been in effect since Monday in areas considered to be of special risk and under special surveillance, which until now comprised 1,201 municipalities. According to Joan Anton Rafecas, president of the Catalan Poultry Federation (FAC, the Catalan employers' association for the sector), these are "preventive measures" aimed at preventing the spread of avian influenza. Since July, 139 outbreaks of this disease have been reported on European poultry farms, 14 of which have been detected on Spanish farms. Half of the cases in Spain have been reported in Castile and León—the epicenter of the disease in Spain is in the province of Valladolid—and none on Catalan farms. However, now all poultry farms in Spain must also comply with a series of measures, within the framework of the extension of this lockdown. These measures include the prohibition of raising ducks and geese with other poultry species, providing birds with water from containers accessible to wild birds, and protecting outdoor water containers from wild waterfowl. Holding competitions or exhibitions with the presence of poultry is prohibited, and it is also required that when confinement of the birds is not possible, the competent authority of each autonomous community may authorize maintaining confinement outdoors through the placement of bird netting. In this respect, most Catalan poultry farms are not affected by the measure because they already raise the birds in enclosed, covered areas. According to data from the Catalan Poultry Federation (FAC), the ministerial order will affect approximately 10% of the sector in Catalonia, which are the farms that do keep the animals outdoors. Farmers' understanding

Rafecas recalls in statements to ARA that in Catalonia there has been no case of avian flu since 2023, when Only one was detected throughout the entire yearHowever, the president of the Catalan Poultry Federation (FAC) is understanding of the measure approved by the Spanish government. "It's not the most desirable, but it's the most convenient," he notes, while pointing out that in recent years—for example, two years ago—other confinements of farm birds have already been approved to prevent further outbreaks, so the ministerial order is not new to Catalan farmers. Keeping the birds confined may cause some "inconveniences" on certain farms, mainly operational in nature, Rafecas adds. Regarding a possible financial impact, the FAC does not foresee much more than a "negligible" decrease in egg production resulting from the hens being kept in enclosed spaces, but without causing any significant losses, according to the president of the association.

The disease, which affects birds and has an incubation period of 21 days, is generally not transmissible to humans and primarily affects chickens and turkeys, while geese and ducks appear to be more resistant. Affected animals shed the virus through nasal secretions, mouth, eyes, and feces, resulting in transmission via three routes: direct contact, contaminated food, water, and equipment, or airborne transmission. This January, the Spanish government joined the joint purchase of vaccines against avian flu carried out by the European Union.