Bird Flu Center

A demonstration attended by some 100 Hungarian poultry farmers took place in front of the Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday, demanding more compensation for the losses inflicted by the bird flu containing measures. A petition was addressed to Jozsef Graf, the Agriculture Minister, asking that a government commissioner is authorized to prepare a comprehensive a ssessment of the effects of the bird flu epidemic hitting Hungary’s poultry industry. Measures to resuscitate the ailing industry were also demanded. Around half a million birds have been culled on farms in the south of the country, where the deadly H5N1 virus was first discovered in June. Culling the birds is the recommended protective action used by most countries to stop the spread of the virus. Estimates given my the farmers say that the industry has suffered losses of severs tens of billions of forints so far. Compensation offered by Hungarian authorities and the European Union only reach 2.5 billion forints.