One person has taken advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated against avian influenza since January, according to the National Centre for Public Health.

The first dose of the vaccine was administered at the Kaisiadorys District Municipal Health Centre.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) told BNS this week that although the first vaccination data is "very modest", the process has just begun.

„Aflunov“ vaccine is intended for persons over 18 years of age who have an occupational risk of contracting bird flu due to close contact with birds or animals, their carcasses or carrion.

According to the ministry, employees of poultry farms, staff of veterinary clinics and research institutions, zoos and museums, foresters, ornithologists, and others who are eligible for the vaccination are a relatively narrow group.

The Agriculture Ministry told BNS that it currently has no measures in place to encourage farmers and agricultural workers to get vaccinated, but assured that it would provide information on how to recognise the symptoms of swine flu, and how to protect farms from infectious diseases. It also underlined its cooperation with the National Crisis Management Centre on this topic.

„The ministry's leadership is concerned about the preventive vaccination of farmers and agricultural workers, who are at risk according to the nature of their work“,– the response to BNS reads.

Gytis Kauzonas, head of the Lithuanian Poultry Breeding Association, told BNS that he recommends that people who work on poultry farms be vaccinated. He said people in direct and close contact with infected birds risked contracting influenza.

„Theoretically, it is possible to be infected, but it is not that easy to get infected“, –  the poultry spokesman said.  

„There are vaccination opportunities, the Ministry of Health has bought 2,000 vaccines, the question of self-selection is“, – said G. Kauzonas. 

„Aflunov“ is currently the only vaccine against avian influenza available for humans. As SAM informed BNS in December last year, Lithuania has purchased a total of 2,000 doses of the vaccine to vaccinate 1,000 inhabitants.

According to G. Kauzonas, the managers of all the poultry farms that belong to the association have been asked to discuss the issue of the vaccine with the staff.  

„We have asked all members of the association to inform their staff and to make it possible for them to get vaccinated. We can no longer interfere in the affairs of companies. Especially about vaccines there is a strange opinion about vaccines that people don't know, – he said.

SAM said it had organised meetings with the State Food and Veterinary Service (SVVT) and representatives of the poultry association and provided them with the material with a request to circulate it.

An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed at the end of January at the Vilkyčiai poultry farm in the Šilutė district. It was detected in the district and resulted in the destruction of over a quarter of a million birds.

It is suspected that the influenza infection may have originated in Poland, but other possibilities have not been ruled out.

LRT Radio reported this week, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, that some countries have restricted imports of poultry meat from Lithuania due to bird flu.

According to the MoHS, 904 human cases of avian influenza have been reported in 24 countries worldwide between 2003 and 2024. Of these, 464 were fatal.

Bird flu is usually contracted by people through direct contact: close contact with infected birds or animals or their body fluids, tissues, faeces; contaminated environmental objects; ingestion and inhalation of the virus; and upper respiratory tract and eye contact.