The Public Health Institute calmed all those who live in Albania this Monday that so far, no human results infected with the avian flu H5N1.

Silva Bino, the chief for the infectious diseases said that although the risk is high, no one is infected yet and the first case confirmed in a family farm in Mëzez, Kashar (near Tirana) is under control.

Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that occurs mainly in poultry, such as chickens, ducks and turkeys and wild water birds, such as gulls. It can affect both wild and farmed (domestic) birds.

That's why, Bino called all citizens to cook hard the eggs and the poultry's meat in order to stay in the safe zone. 

Some strains of avian influenza can be highly pathogenic, meaning that infected birds can suffer serious disease or even death.

Outbreaks of avian influenza have occurred in the EU since the early 2000's. However, 2021 and 2022 saw the highest number of outbreaks of highly pathogenic virus ever recorded in Europe, particularly in farmed poultry. Recent data show high infection rates of highly pathogenic virus in several regions of the world, which have made it necessary to cull an extensive number of farmed birds. 

Certain mutations may allow the virus to spread from mammal to mammal, which makes it of particular concern.

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.