Germany culls 165,000 ducks to stop bird-flu outbreak[fr][de] 

The avian influenza virus H5N1 has been confirmed on a duck-fattening farm with 169,857 animals in the German Federal State of Bavaria. After 4,000 ducks had already died of the virus, the national authorities destroyed the remaining flock of 165,857 animals as a matter of precaution on 26 August 2007. 

Germany is applying the EU protection and surveillance measures  around the infected holding and the Commission Decision of 27 August 2007 indicates that the EU executive is satisfied with the control measures taken. No bans for poultry imports from Germany are currently being imposed and the situation will be reviewed by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH ) in early September. 

Several small outbreaks of H5N1 virus were diagnosed in wild birds in Germany, the Czech Republic and France this summer, whereas the latest outbreaks in farms occurred in England and Hungary early in 2007.

Previous serious outbreaks swept the EU in Autumn 2005, sparking the Commission to strengthen EU co-ordination on generic preparedness for public health emergencies and on influenza-pandemic preparedness and response planning. 

The WHO level of pandemic alert is still in phase three, which means that a new influenza virus subtype is "causing disease in humans but is not yet spreading effectively and sustainably among humans". To date, 195 human cases related to the H5N1 virus subtype have been confirmed around the world, mainly in South-East Asia - none in the EU-27. 

The World Health Organization's World Health Report 2007  published on 23 August 2007 states that scientists agree that the threat of a human pandemic from H5N1 is still real and that "the question of a pandemic of influenza from this virus or another avian influenza virus is still a matter of when, not if".