Bird Flu Center

Bird flu’s appearance in Romania is relatively recent, however the violence of one of the outbreaks among poultry has triggered wide concerns among the inhabitants of the Southeastern country. A rapid answer by the authority put in practice by mass culling of the fowl in the infected areas has closed the gap on the virus, with the government ready to declare the disease eliminated once again.

In September 2005 the Ministry of Agriculture started a prevention plan against the virus, which included vaccination of people from several counties, who were likely to come into contact with poultry. The Danube Delta was seen as a likely place for a flu outbreak, as it stood in the path of migrating waterfowl coming from Asia, the virus’ birthplace.

Barely a month later, the virus was discovered in Ceamurlia de Jos, a village situated in the east of the country, in the county of Tulcea. All the birds were killed and the area was immediately placed under quarantine, with strict disinfection rules followed for those allowed in or out of the perimeter. Another measure was prohibiting hunting in the Danube Delta for the last months of the year, the ones in which wild bird migration takes place, with restrictions being imposed in several other counties.  Several days later, the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus was confirmed and brought the country into international spotlight as the latest occurrence of the disease.

Local authorities in other parts of the country were alerted by the situation and decided to update their veterinary health procedures. Although people were told not to panic many attributed any poultry death to the feared disease and hundreds of suspicions had to be investigated. Already the poultry industry started to feel the pressure, as public trust started to fade and producers even feared their exports could be banned to prevent a possible spread. Another hotbed of the virus was confirmed in Maliuc, while in scarce places wild birds were found dead and later tested positive for the disease. The same measures were imposed and the surveillance area was extended.

European experts into the matter came to Romania to provide assistance to health officials, while a mobile laboratory was brought from the United States to speed up the testing on birds suspected to carry the disease. By November 11th, the virus was eradicated from its first hotbed, but only a few days later the village of Caraorman, in the same county, was placed under quarantine, after four hens were discovered to be carriers of the virus.  By December, several other areas were quarantined, as new outbreaks of the virus appeared across 5 counties. Authorities now had to deal with the population disbelief about the disease. As many households in villages affected by the virus relied on the poultry raised, some were opposing the culling of the birds or tried to hide them from the personnel entitled to put the sanitary measures in practice.  Ialomita entered the list of counties where the virus was found, but an abrupt drop in temperatures had public authorities hoping the disease will be contained and that wild birds will shift their migratory path towards Southern, warmer climates, thus, out of the country.

In January 2006, as a modern care unit designed to hold possible avian flu patients was opened in a hospital in Bucharest, suspicions of possible poultry infected with the disease appeared at the outskirts of the capital city. During the same period, The European Union helped fund a modern testing laboratory to help in the bird flu prevention effort of Romanian authorities. During February, outbreaks were also found in Dolj and Mehedinti counties and security perimeters were set around each of the new hotbeds. A statistic published February 16th gave indication of 25 outbreaks already extinguished, 6 being isolated and in the process of eliminating the virus, and 3 other suspicions being analyzed.

On March 7th, the Romanian Minister of Agriculture, Gheorghe Flutur, estimated that the danger of new bird flu outbreaks in the country will diminish with the arrival of warm weather, but that caution should still be exerted. 41 outbreaks were on record at that time, with 25 already under control and put out. It was estimated the disease had cost the Romanian government 20 million euros. Later that month, Cernavoda became the first town to be placed under quarantine after a household was discovered to have bird flu infected chickens. The main concern however, was raised by the fact that new outbreaks of the virus appeared just 10 kilometers outside Bucharest, authorities fearing an outbreak in the capital would be very difficult to contain.

On April 21st a press release announced the closure of the last of the 51 bird flu outbreaks detected in the 6 months passed since the first case was reported. Official statistics indicate that 420,000 birds have been culled, in 16,100 households across 9 counties. Barely 3 weeks later though, the virus was discovered again in chickens raised in the vicinity of a poultry farm in Codlea (county of Brasov). Tests on the farm birds also shown the presence of the virus and worries immediately arose that infected birds or meat had already been transported to other farms or even stores across the country. Large quantities of poultry or meat were confiscated from the farm and from shops where the company had distributed its products. The owners of the farm, along with health officials in the region, were placed under arrest or placed under investigation for negligence and ignoring health regulations. Also in May, the virus reached two administrative sectors of the capital city and streets were quarantined in an attempt to isolate the outbreak.

The virus spread rapidly among poultry and wild birds and on May 28th, a government official stated that 88 new outbreaks had been confirmed, with other 23 suspicions awaiting laboratory confirmation. Two days later the number rose to 116 confirmed cases and to 121 the following day.  During the month of June the outbreaks were gradually contained and testing to quarantined areas confirmed the elimination of the virus. As of July 4th, the time of the last official update, only 8 remaining outbreaks of the virus were left and waiting to be officially declared clear of the disease.