Hungarian authorities have destroyed tens of thousands of turkeys over concerns of a bird flu outbreak.
H5N8 is a subtype of the Influenza A virus, although H5N8 is considered one of the less pathogenic subtypes for humans, it is beginning to become more pathogenic.
H5N8 has previously been used in place of the highly pathogenic H1N1 in studies.
“A farm in Acs, 95 kilometres west of Budapest, had to slaughter 53,500 of the birds after some were determined to be diseased by the H5N8 virus,’’ the food control administration Nebih said on Monday.
The type of flu has not yet been transferred to humans, so the state veterinary agency has not ordered a nationwide quarantine for poultry. (dpa/NAN)