The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, after the presence of bird flu, Avian Influenza (H5N1), in a family farm in Mëzez, Kashar (near Tirana), has taken all measures and announced that the situation is under control.

The Ministry announced that after receiving confirmation from the Institute of Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine about the presence of this disease, the National Crisis Center was set up, which held the first meeting and presented the operational tasks.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, experts from the ministry and the Veterinary and Plant Protection Authority have closely inspected the outbreak identified as positive, in the village of Mëzez. The Veterinary Service continues to supervise and monitor through sampling other small family farms around this area, to send them without delay to the Reference Laboratory.

In the meantime, the Minister's Order "For the approval of the contingency plan for the Avian Influenza disease" is in force, which defines the modalities of keeping the disease under control.

Also, the Veterinary Service has quarantined the center and the areas of protection and surveillance, to isolate and prevent the spread of the infection, as the Institute of Public Health has been notified, to carry out the necessary procedures for control and risk assessment.

The Agriculture Ministry announces that farmers and breeders of poultry of all species have been informed that the movement, trading, and sale of poultry from farms in the areas of the municipalities of Tirana, Vora, and Kamza has been prohibited.

The Ministry instructs poultry breeders throughout the country to take measures to implement biosecurity in the farms and environments where they breed poultry, as well as to carry out the movement of birds for commercial purposes only after being authorized by the Official Veterinarian of the Service with the Veterinary Certificate of Movement Animals.

The Agriculture Ministry appealed to farmers to immediately communicate with the regional veterinary service in case of any doubt.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development informs that the situation of guaranteeing the food safety chain is under control. Until now, there is no epidemiological and scientific evidence that this virus is transmitted through the consumption of products of animal origin, and it is recommended that the consumption of these products takes place after thermal treatment, with high temperatures above 75 degrees Celsius," says the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.