Nearly a mln animals culled in Germany amid bird flu surge

The Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI), Germany's federal animal health agency, said on Monday that almost one million animals have been culled in Germany to contain the spread of the highly contagious H5N1 virus.



The institute reported that the number of confirmed infections this year has already surpassed the level recorded at the same time during the record outbreak of 2021. "We saw an early start to the infection wave in 2025," an FLI spokesperson said. "It remains to be seen whether it will also subside earlier than in previous years."



Since early September, infections have been confirmed at 66 poultry farms across the country, including several large operations, forcing mass culling of animals as a preventive measure.



The northwestern German state of Lower Saxony has so far been the hardest hit, with 30 infected farms, including a recent outbreak at a turkey breeding facility housing nearly 7,000 birds.