20.02.2017

Hsinchu County in northern Taiwan reported its first case of H5N6 this year, as 400 abandoned dead chickens tested positive for the pathogenic avian influenza virus.
Police were notified about a large pile of rotting, lifeless chickens nearby an industrial road in Hukou area in Hsinchu on Feb. 16, 2017, maggots found in the carcass and the pungent odor emanating at the site suggested the chickens had been decaying for at least three to four days.
The latest case reported in Hsinchu increases the number of counties affected by the avian influenza from five to six, and brings the total cases of the current H5N6 outbreak to 17. An outbreak of the contagious H5N6 that is transmittable to humans has led to the culling of 188,696 birds in 28 poultry farms and five slaughterhouses.