Israel Reports Bird Flu in Jezreel Valley Turkey Flock, Second Case This Season

Israel's Agriculture and Food Security Ministry reported H5N1 in fattening turkeys at a commercial coop in Moshav Nahalal in northern Israel. The flock size was 8,000 turkeys.

Authorities established a 10-kilometre quarantine zone around the site. They also called on owners of ornamental birds, backyard poultry, and free-range flocks to keep birds indoors to limit contact with wild birds.

Officials described the detection as the season's second outbreak. The first was reported in early January at a duck breeding facility in Sde Yaakov, about five kilometres from Nahalal.

Why does this area keep seeing cases?

Nahalal has faced bird flu before. Israel recorded 16 outbreaks in commercial poultry nationwide in 2025, and Nahalal accounted for four of them, according to the account provided.

The repeated detections point to a difficult reality for the Jezreel Valley, a region described as vulnerable because it sits along migratory bird routes. Wild birds can carry avian influenza viruses without obvious signs and move long distances during seasonal migration.

The ministry said fattening turkeys is especially sensitive. It warned that once infection enters a commercial coop, deaths can rise quickly and spread across a farm within hours.

Officials said wild migratory birds are the main source of introduction. Once inside a flock, the virus can spread through direct contact between birds or through contaminated equipment that moves between farm areas.

Fattening turkeys are the most sensitive birds, and infection in a commercial coop can cause rapid mortality spreading across the entire farm in just a few hours," Agriculture and Food Security Ministry officials said.

Health officials said no human cases have been linked to the Israeli outbreaks and that the risk to the general public remains low. H5N1 can infect people in rare cases, usually among those with close contact to infected birds.

Officials advised consumers to buy poultry and eggs only from regulated sources. They also said thorough cooking kills the virus.

The World Health Organization describes H5N1 as a subtype of influenza virus that infects birds and mammals, including humans in rare instances.
A wider global backdrop

The Nahalal detection comes amid broader concern about H5N1 activity worldwide. The virus has affected poultry and wild birds on every continent except Australia since 2020, as described in the account provided.

In the United States, the virus has also spilled into dairy cattle. Sporadic human infections have occurred worldwide, but sustained person-to-person spread has not.

In India, similar outbreaks in poultry and wild birds have prompted heightened surveillance in several states this season.