HELSINKI, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry on Tuesday amended its animal diseases decree to include the highly pathogenic bird flu in commercial fur production animals in the class of "other preventable animal diseases."
Cases of highly pathogenic bird flu have been detected in commercial fur animals in Finland this July.
The revised decree therefore grants the Finnish Food Authority the authority to order the culling of affected animals.
As of the end of last week, the highly pathogenic bird flu strain H5H1 has been confirmed in five fur production plants located in west-central Finland.
Minister for Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah on Tuesday emphasized that the prompt measures permitted by the updated decree can prevent infection between mammals, and minimize the risk of transmission to humans.
The owners of the animals ordered to be destroyed will receive compensation, while the state will meet expenses for disinfection measures.
Recently there have been reports of mass deaths of birds, primarily seagulls, in several areas in Finland. ■