JERUSALEM, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Monday detected an outbreak of the pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in about 18,700 chickens, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said in a statement.
The virus was detected at a coop farm in the town of Binyamina-Giv'at Ada, near the coastal city of Hadera, just three days after the ministry announced that the peak of the bird flu outbreak in Israel "has probably passed."
Following the new detection of the virus, the ministry's veterinary services isolated the farm and continued to operate in an emergency procedure to detect the virus in other places.
The outbreak of the virus began in northern and southern Israel in mid-November and has intensified in the last four weeks.
On Jan. 6, the ministry said more than 1 million chickens, turkeys and ducks were infected in 20 coop hotspots and had to be killed.
The virus also infected wild birds, killing more than 8,000 cranes in northeastern Israel. ■
