The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through special orders, has taken protective measures against the avian influenza disease with high pathogenicity in birds, which has been confirmed in the countries of Croatia, Denmark, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Poland, France, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Spain, Portugal, France, Norway, Austria and North Macedonia.

The measures include the ban on the import and transit through the territory of the Republic of Albania of poultry, 24-hour birds, decorative birds, biological material of birds, poultry eggs, poultry meat not thermally treated, and non-thermally treated poultry by-products.

Also, at the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture has taken measures to protect against the disease of sheep and goat pox that appeared in Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

In this case, the measures include the ban on the import and transit to the territory of the Republic of Albania of all live animals of the plant and wool type, biological material, and animal by-products of the plant and wool type.

Similar measures have been taken to protect against the blue tongue disease that has appeared in Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Meanwhile, 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 (AKVMB) about the presence of this disease, the National Crisis Center was set up and operational tasks were decided.

Bird flu has been spreading faster in the EU this season than a milder 2023, raising concerns of a repeat of previous crises that led to the deaths of tens of millions of poultry and renewing fears that it could expand to humans. Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has killed hundreds of millions of birds around the globe in recent years.

However, it has not been detected in humans or cattle in the EU, unlike the U.S. where the virus has spread to nearly 400 dairy herds in 14 states this year, and has been detected in 36 people since April.

Bird flu is a seasonal disease among poultry, spread mostly through the feces of infected wild birds and the transport of infected material. It typically appears in the autumn with migratory birds and decreases in the spring.