“In Vila Nova da Barquinha, the avian flu virus was detected in wild ducks, a situation that reinforces that the disease exists in circulation in wild animals and that it is through these that it reaches domestic species”, Susana Pombo, from the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary Medicine (DGAV), which also confirmed another case in Peniche.

“Of the five outbreaks that we already knew, the fifth outbreak was confirmed in Alpiarça” (Santarém) on January 4, in a wild goose found dead in the Patudos Dam, “we can now also signal a sixth outbreak of infection of high-grade bird flu”in Peniche, also in wild animals, in a seagull”, she said, calling for compliance with biosecurity rules.

As a precautionary measure and to contain the disease, the municipality of Vila Nova da Barquinha, in conjunction with DGAV, decided to halt access to the riverside park.

“The municipality has banned the riverside park from the public, asking residents not to feed the animals in the park area, thus avoiding their approach, not to circulate in the marked perimeter in order not to be an agent of propagation of the virus in poultry or captivity” the municipality said in a statement.